Despawned
by DarkKryptid
Summary: The Void has invaded. Darkness has enveloped the land. But still, against all odds, Steve and his friends are still alive. Separated, yes, but still alive. Monsters no longer have daylight to fear, and Steve has to fight a strange sickness that is overcoming him. He is at risk of despawning. Part III of the Steve trilogy, rated T for course language and violence.
1. Darkness Spreads

An enderpearl shot out of the oncoming tidal wave of darkness. The enderpearl hit the ground, and an Ender, two girls, and a wolf appeared. They were all covered in blood, and they raced across the deserted battlefield. Anyone still there was already dead.

And still, the Void spread.

* * *

Kryptid pulled the girls along with him. They reached the hill at the end of the battlefield, and Kryptid pulled them behind a large log that were going to use for firewood after the battle. He lit a torch just as the wave of darkness hit them.

The darkness was impenetrable. The torch barely kept the dark at bay, and Red and Blue huddled close to the light.

"It got through?" Blue asked, panting.

"Afraid so," Kryptid replied, looking around in the darkness. "Shit."

"What?"

"I can't see anything."

"So...?" Red asked. "We can't either."

"Yeah, but Enders have perfect night vision. But I can't see anything."

They sat in silence for a minute. Then Kryptid's head shot up.

"Did you hear that?" he asked, and Blue nodded.

"It sounded like a scre-." Suddenly, the torch went out. Within seconds Kryptid had lit it again, but Blue was gone. Red looked at him in alarm, and he scowled.

"Shit," he scowled, pulling his swords free of their scabbards. "Where are you..."

The torch went out again. Kryptid spun wildly in a circle, feeling his sword connect with something. He was able to pull a flint and steel from his cloak, and lit the log on fire. Red and Blue were laying down nearby, both unconscious. Blood dripped from his swords, and he looked down to see one of the most horrible creatures he had ever seen. Its neck was ripped open cleanly, probably from his swords, but the rest of its body was covered in sores and wounds, and its eyes were black and unseeing. It took Kryptid only a few seconds to realise the thing was still alive, twitching, reaching for him with its mangled limbs.

"Gross."

* * *

Once the monster was dead, Kryptid walked over to check on Blue and Red. Lupa, Red's wolf, was licking Red's face, trying to wake her up. Kryptid made his way over to the only tent he could see and began to search through it. He came back with a bucket fill of milk, and he dumped it on the girls. They jolted awake.

"What the hell just happened?" Red exclaimed, patting Lupa.

"You were attacked by that," he said, pointing to the monster's corpse.

"How long were we out for?" Blue asked.

"Only a few minutes. This thing took quite a beating," Kryptid kicked the corpse. It twitched, and he jumped back in alarm as it started to wake up.

"Oh for Notch's sake! It was dead!"

The monster lunged for him, bile foaming in its mouth. Kryptid teleported behind the creature, grabbing it in the process. He then teleported away. Within seconds he was back, stumbling into the light.

"I dropped it into a hole. I hope," he said, steadying himself on Blue. "We should probably leave, just in case. Those things will be all over the place soon."

"I guess we should go back to the town," Red said. Kryptid nodded.

"Let's go."

* * *

They each held a torch, and were running a tight group through the darkness, towards where Kryptid thought the town was. Lupa bounded alongside them, and occasionally they would catch a glimpse of something - whether monster or not - lumbering in the darkness. They didn't stay around to check.

After an hour of running, they stopped to rest.

"We need to keep moving," Blue said, and Kryptid raised an eyebrow.

"Why? If we don't stop we'll overwork ourselves. Possibly pass out before we're even half way there."

"Lief is still at the town," Blue exclaimed. Kryptid nodded.

"I wish I could say I noticed that thing not being here. We need to rest."

Blue looked to Red for support, but she was already napping.

"Fine. But not for long, please."

"You can be the one to wake her up then."

* * *

**First chapter. Little short, but then you guys are the ones who have to deal with that ;D**

**~ Dark**


	2. Kill It With Fire

Steve slowly climbed to his feet. He could feel his energy wearing off, and his body gave off a faint glow. His surroundings were pitch black, and he could barely see dark shapes moving around him. He couldn't remember much from the battle, but he didn't need to remember to know what had happened. The Void had broken through.

'Did this mean that they had lost? Or had that _dick _summoned the Void anyway?' he wondered to himself.

Steve decided it didn't matter. The Void was through, and now it was night. Or day. Steve couldn't actually see any stars, so it could be any time of -

Suddenly, his energy left him, the light disappearing with it. He felt something grab him, and he shook it off. Summoning a torch and his sword into his hand, Steve spun in a circle, surveying his surroundings. Mangled, undead creatures stumbled away from the light, and Steve almost tripped over a fallen sword in surprise.

A loud scream ripped through the darkness. Steve raced towards it, shoving monsters out of the way in the process. He came to a lone torch, giving off very little light against the darkness.

"Anybody there?" Steve shouted, and then someone came flying out of the shadows. He recognised her from the town, but half her face was missing, and her eyes were pits of black. He threw her off, and backed away.

"What the hell did they do to you?" he asked, kicking her away. She ran at him again, and she impaled herself on his sword. She kept clawing at him, trying desperately to gouge her nails into his face. Pushing his sword in further, he felt energy pour into his fingertips. A beam of white light shot out, disintegrating the rest of the poor girl's face.

"Sorry," Steve whispered, pulling his sword free. The girl's lifeless body fell to the ground, and Steve set fire to her. He watched her burn for a few seconds, then ran into the darkness.

* * *

He found Destructo swinging a pickaxe into the face of one of the monsters. Half of the forest was alight, and Steve could see a flint and steel lying on the ground nearby.

"Hey, Steve!" he said in greeting, pulling the pickaxe free. He kicked the monster away, then threw its writhing body into the flames.

"It's the only way to kill them," Destructo said. He looked at Steve, and saw his expression.

"I had to burn the forest. The light keeps those things at bay."

"Right," Steve drew out the word. "Have you seen anyone else?"

"Nope. I've been pretty busy holding those things at bay."

"What are we going to do?" Steve wondered aloud. Suddenly, the call of an eagle came out of nowhere. Out of the darkness shot Zephyr, Wedge's eagle. It circled over head, then landed beside Steve.

"Wedge!" Steve shouted, as the bird took off again. He ran after it, Destructo close behind him.

* * *

Wedge was standing off against three monsters, his dropped torch flaming to the side of him. He had thought he'd already killed two of them, but they just wouldn't stop.

His sword bit into the head of one of them, but it didn't stop. He was slowly being pushed back, into the darkness, when out of nowhere a glowing sword intercepted the monsters. Steve and Destructo stood in front of Wedge, and Steve slashed through one of the monsters. When the blade touched the flesh it was set alight, burning the monster to its death. The other monsters quickly followed it to death, their bodies reduced to ash.

"You okay?" Steve asked, walking over to Wedge.

"Yeah," he replied, glancing up at Zephyr as he flew overhead.

"How'd he get through the darkness? I saw it turn a girl into one of those monsters," Steve wondered aloud. Wedge merely shrugged.

"What now?" Destructo asked.

"We need to get to the town. We'll figure out what to do from there."

* * *

A burst of fire lit up not far away. Steve dashed towards it, Destructo and Wedge not far behind. As he got closer, he recognised the source of the fire.

Ginja and Isodion stood back to back, Ginja sending waves of fire at the horde of monsters in front of her, Isodion absorbing black energy from the monsters in front of him, sending it back as beams of energy that killed all in their paths.

Ginja looked up, and nodded at Steve and the others. Isodion was too busy focusing on his attacks, which seemed to be having a massive drain on him. Steve jumped into the action, swinging a torch like a sword and his sword like a sword, trying to fight off the monsters. Zephyr dive bombed the creatures, while Wedge swung his sword left and right, cutting down the monsters. Destructo couldn't help himself, and began to set off TNT, which proved to be an effective way of killing them.

Steve eventually gave up on his torch idea, and instead lit a monster on fire and kicked it into the others.

Soon they were standing in charred rubble.

"Well that was fun," Destructo grinned, and Steve shook his head.

* * *

_**A beam of white light shot out, disintegrating the rest of the poor girl's face.**_

**I like that line.**

**~ Dark**


	3. Death's First Victim

Kryptid looked down at the burning town.

"What the hell happened here?" he wondered aloud, jumping onto one of the few remaining roofs.

"I don't know. I wasn't here," Red said, jumping down with Blue after him.

"It was a rhetorical question," Kryptid hissed, motioning for her to lower her voice. A group of people ran pass below, armed to the teeth with weapons.

"Let's go," he said, jumping down to the ground.

* * *

Blue's house was gone. Burnt to the ground.

"Lief!" Blue shouted. There was no answer, although even as Kryptid thought about it he wasn't so sure what he had been expecting.

"We have to go," Kryptid quietly urged.

"I am not leaving her," Blue hissed angrily, then shouted into the darkness again.

"Well you're going to have to," Kryptid said, and then spun around at the sound of a familiar scream.

"Shit," he muttered, and he raced off.

"Where's he going?" Red asked, and Blue shrugged.

"We should probably follow him," she continued, and Blue frowned.

"You go ahead. I'm going to find Lief."

* * *

"Oh shit," Kryptid said as he saw the sheer amount of blood and corpses that covered the houses. He noticed the legs and the blood trail leading into a house, and he followed it.

Fido was in a horrible state.

Her face and torso were covered in blood, and her hands were folded across her chest. She was covered in bruises and cuts, and a lot of the blood appeared to be her's. The real carnage, however, started below the waist, were her body ended. It was just a mess of tendons and arteries, all of which was still profusely bleeding.

"Well this is... Horrible," Kryptid said, and Fido looked up, causing him to jump in surprise.

"So you're not dead then."

"I will be soon," Fido muttered, coughing up blood.

"Don't talk like that."

Fido raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you're probably going to die. Still, don't talk like that."

Fido laughed, her face twisting in pain.

"Please," she wheezed, "don't make me laugh."

Kryptid smiled sadly. It was then that Red walked in.

"Oh Notch that's disgusting," she moaned, looking away. Kryptid winked at Fido, and she nodded, pretending to be dead. When Red eventually looked back, she sighed.

"That sucks."

"No dah," Kryptid scowled.

"Do you think it hurt?"

"No, of course it didn't hurt, you idiot," Fido said, looking up.

"Oh fuck!" Red screamed, jumping so high she practically bumped her head on the ceiling. "I thought you were dead!"

"Well I'm not."

* * *

"Lief!" Blue shouted, getting more desperate with each passing second.

"Lief!"

A moan came from the darkness. Blue drew her sword, and threw a torch into the dark. It briefly lit up the monster, and it charged.

She brought her sword up to meet the thing's neck. Unfortunately, all this accomplished was cutting off its head. The body kept coming, clawing at her face, and the head fell onto the ground, trying to take a bite out of her leg. Kicking it away, she used her sword and pushed the monster away. She turned to run away, to pick up her torch, when an orange blur streaked out of the darkness, clawing into the monster's chest.

"Lief!" Blue shouted, picking up the torch and shoving it into the monster's belly. As it burned, Lief nuzzled against her hand.

"Let's go find the others."

* * *

"Remember that time, when Destructo got his head stuck in a dispenser?" Kryptid said, laughing. Fido smiled, trying not to laugh.

"Yeah," she said, clutching her chest in pain.

"You okay?" Kryptid said before he could stop himself. Fido glared at him.

"I know, I know. Sorry."

Blue ran into the room, slamming the door shut behind her.

"There are about five out-," she stopped when she saw Fido.

"You look like shit," she said, and Fido moaned.

"You think?" Suddenly, her face became contorted in pain, and she fell back, moaning.

"Crap," Kryptid muttered, pacing the room, teleporting every few steps. He stopped.

"I never asked how you got like this," Kryptid stated.

Fido smiled. "Some guy shoved a sword into my gut, and used me as bait for the monsters."

"How many?" Red asked. Kryptid merely looked outside.

"That's a lot of monsters."

"Yeah, it wa-," she started coughing, blood coming up with every breath.

"Goodbye, Fido. It's been a pleasure being friends with you," Kryptid said, giving a little salute.

"Goodbye, Kryptid. I'll see you later," she whispered, and the life left her eyes.

There were tears in Kryptid's eyes. One slowly fell down his cheek, leaving a scar as it did.

Blue and Red looked at him in surprise. He shook his head, and grabbed a torch from the wall. Within seconds, Fido's body was burnt to a crisp.

"I'm going to miss you," he said, and he walked out of the house.

"Shit," Blue said, and she followed, Red in tow.

Kryptid wiped his eyes with his sleeve. He'd forgotten how painful crying was.

* * *

**Well then. Kryptid has emotions apparently.**

**Shit.**

**~ Dark**


	4. A Plan

Steve and the others raced continuously upwards, cliffs surrounding them. Suddenly, they reached a crest, and they were looking down on the town. Almost no buildings were still standing, most already having been burnt to blackened husks.

Destructo let out a yell.

"All of that work!" Destructo screamed, before anyone could stop him. Steve raised an eyebrow.

"From what I heard, you did almost nothing."

"I didn't say I did any of it. I just made a comment about how much work it was," Destructo laughed, and Wedge backed away as the laughter became manically.

"Anyway," Ginja said. "What are we doing here?"

"We need to grab some stuff. And I'm going to see whether anyone's left." Steve sighed. "I doubt tha-."

He trailed off, as a loud bang came from beneath them. Looking over the edge, Steve saw that they stood above the observatory. Steve smiled.

"Kevin's alive."

* * *

"Duck!" Kevin shouted, as the group walked into his observatory. They all dropped to the ground as various types of weaponry flew overhead.

"What are you even doing?" Destructo laughed, and Steve started to wonder about his level of sanity.

"I'm trying to make an easy way to kill the monsters. Nothing seems to work," Kevin scowled.

"Why don't you just use an enchanted bow?" Wedge asked, looking up from grooming Zephyr.

Kevin's face dropped.

"Crap."

* * *

"So, what happened?" Steve asked.

"When the Void invaded, people freaked out. Then everyone who was first enveloped in the darkness turned into those things, and people freaked out even more," Kevin explained.

"Then, sometime…" he checked his clock, "yesterday, people figured out that fire was the only way to kill them. That's when they started to burn the town."

"Shit," Steve muttered.

"That didn't hold back the monsters like they thought. Most of them died."

"We need to get somewhere safe," Isodion said. "How about the Nether?"

"Nah, we can't," Kevin said. "The Nether portals were destroyed when the Void invaded." He gestured to a partially destroyed part of the observatory, where a frame of obsidian stood. "I can't make a new one."

"Where else could we go?" Ginja asked.

Kevin's eyes lit up.

"I might have an idea."

* * *

Steve searched his home, which, luckily, hadn't been burnt as much as the rest of the town. He took everything he could carry, and met the others and the completely destroyed town centre. Kevin had the completely untouched map of the surrounding area in his hands, and the others were crowded around, watching him point out various points of interest. Not that it mattered, of course, with pitch blackness that surrounded them, but he pointed them out anyway.

"We'll need to go here, where my old base should be. All of my old research is there, including the supplies we will need," he was saying, and he nodded at Steve.

"Good," Destructo said, turning to face a direction. "West!"

"That's north, and it's not even the right way," Kevin sighed. "Let's go."

They all started to make their way down the main road, leading to the town gate. Steve forced it open, and shook his head.

"We're screwed," he said, pushing the gate open further, revealing the darkness, within which he could see moving figures.

"I feel like this has probably already been said," Destructo smiled, "But, shit."

* * *

Steve sent a beam of energy into the sky, lighting up the surrounding area. Monsters surrounded him, and he could hear the sound of flames coming from nearby. His sword flashed, cutting down arrow of monsters where they stood. His other hand lit up, and he burnt a gaping hole into the chest of another.

He was forced to the ground by something behind him, and suddenly Destructo was by his side, launching a flaming arrow into the monster's head and pulling Steve to his feet. Within seconds, he was once again lost in the fray, and Steve turned back to the task at hand.

More and more monsters kept throwing themselves at him, and more and more monsters fell dead at his feet. Eventually, Steve found himself at the entrance to the valley, where a few torches were hanging from the cliffs. Destructo was already there, sending arrow after arrow into the hordes. Wedge arrived soon after, Zephyr swooping overhead, and Kevin ran after him, hastily pushing monsters away from him.

"Where are Isodion and Ginja?" Destructo asked, as he sent another volley of arrows into the darkness.

"We have to go!" Kevin shouted, shoving a monster away before Steve incinerated it.

"Just wait a second," Steve said, and within seconds Isodion flew out of the darkness, collided with Destructo, and they both ended up in a pile on the ground.

"Where's Ginja?" Steve asked, and Isodion shrugged.

"Don't know. I haven't seen her," Isodion answered, and Steve frowned.

"We can't wait. The Void is winning," Kevin said, climbing over some fallen rocks to get out of the valley.

"Yeah," Destructo said, following him.

Steve frowned, and looked into the darkness. He couldn't see anything, and he sighed. Still frowning, he followed Destructo and Kevin, with Isodion close behind him.

* * *

Ginja had somehow found herself at the top of a cliff. Her body was encased with fire, and she spun in a circle, seeing nothing but darkness and ash. She heard shouting from nearby, and raced down the mountain. The voices became louder, and she frowned.

"I can't believe we left her behind," Isodion was saying, and Kevin scowled.

"We had to. We are running out of time. Hurry up," he said, and Isodion quickly caught up with the others.

Ginja sighed, the fire surrounding her going out.

"Hey guys," she said, landing in the midst of them. Kevin jumped back in surprise, but Steve, Destructo and Isodion smiled.

"You're not dead then. Good. We'll be needing you," Steve said, and she nodded.

"Right. We need to hurry," Kevin said. "This way."

And they ran into the darkness.

* * *

**Time to reply to a review:**

**GGuy12345 - I guess it could come across as sadistic, but I just meant that it's a really cool thing to imagine. Just, take a moment, and imagine how cool (and disgusting) that would look. Anyway, thanks for the OCs, expect to see them at some point in the future.**

**So, thanks to you, like, three people who've reviewed, and I appreciate it.**

**~ Dark**


	5. A New Addition

Ryan began to wake up. He had slept for a long time, and he pushed his curtain open, slightly. It was still pitch black outside. Rubbing his head, he climbed out of bed and began to make his way towards the bathroom. It was dark in there, so he turned on a light, and jumped back at the bloody, broken, and obviously dead body of the owner of the house he was staying in.

"What the…" Ryan trailed off, and he heard a loud bang from behind him. He spun around, and came face to face with the half missing face of a disgusting monster. He dived to the side as the creature swung its fist at him.

Ryan cowered against the wall, as he realised that the monster stood between him and his bow. The creature brought its arms back, ready to swing them down and kill him.

Suddenly, a man appeared out of thin air. He wrapped his arms around the monster, and smiled at Ryan. His purple eyes glowed, and he vanished, taking the monster with him.

* * *

Kryptid appeared outside, and shoved the bloated body of the monster away from him. It stumbled, tripping over Blue's outstretched leg, who shoved a torch into its face. The monster began to burn.

"I'll be right back," he said, and he teleported.

* * *

The man appeared again, and he held out his hand. Ryan took it, and he was pulled to his feet.

"Get your stuff," the man said. "I don't know if you noticed, and I don't know how you couldn't have, but the world has basically ended. Don't worry, we're working to reverse what's happened."

"Um…" Ryan mumbled.

"Grab your stuff. You have like, five minutes. Fuck that, two minutes. Hurry up."

* * *

Kryptid grabbed the two girls and Lupa, and teleported inside the house. The kid had pulled on a red and yellow hoodie, and he was rummaging through a chest, and he pulled out a large, intricately carved bow, which he slung over his back, along with a quiver filled with arrows. He had black hair and red eyes, and he wore purple and gold pants.

"Got everything?" Kryptid asked, and the boy nodded.

"Good," Kryptid said. "By the way, I'm Kryptid. This is Blue, with her dumb cat Lief." The ocelot hissed at him. He ignored it. "And that's Red, and the wolf is Lupa."

"My name's Ryan," the boy said, and Kryptid smiled.

"Well, hello there Ryan." He stretched out his hand, and when Ryan took it they appeared outside.

"Don't know if you've noticed, but the world's gone to shit. If you'd kindly follow us, we had somewhere to be before we had to save you."

Blue looked at him in surprise.

"We did?" she asked.

"Yes, and we still do. Let's go."

* * *

Ryan tried hard to keep up as the others raced through the dark, each holding flaming torches. After a while, they took a break and sat in a circle around a small fire.

"Are you okay?" the blonde girl, Blue, with the cat and the tight clothes, asked Kryptid. Ryan looked at Kryptid's face and noticed a pale scar running the entire length of it. He wondered how it had happened.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Kryptid asked, and Blue looked genuinely worried.

"Well, you cried," she said.

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, you're Kryptid. You never cry!" she exclaimed.

"Watching a close friend die tends to have an effect on people," Kryptid said, moving his hood slightly so it covered his eyes.

"You're not a person though. You're an Ender," the red haired girl, Red, with the dull expression and the wolf, said.

"Aren't I allowed to cry?"

"It hurts, doesn't it?" Ryan asked, speaking up for the first time since they rescued him. All three of them turned his way.

"What?" Kryptid asked, and even though it wasn't said with any malice Ryan was still scared to speak again.

"I said, it hurts, doesn't it?" Ryan repeated. "I mean, you're an Ender. Water hurts you. Right?"

Kryptid was silent for a while.

"Yes," he finally said, and that was that. They ate, rationing out what little food they had left, and then they were on the move again.

* * *

Kryptid finally agreed to Blue and Red's pleas for sleep when Ryan told him that he was tired. After complaining about how they had found him asleep a little under four hours previous, and how they had somewhere to be. Ryan mumbled something about sleeping again, and Kryptid gave in, agreeing to take first watch.

The three of them – Ryan, Blue and Red – all tried to go to sleep. Eventually, they did. At least, the girls did. Ryan lay there, quiet, trying to work out these people. They had an easy going nature about them, even though the world was swamped in darkness. They also seemed to have an agenda. Kryptid kept talking about somewhere they needed to go, and Ryan wondered where it was. Hopefully it wasn't far. He didn't want to spend the next few days walking.

Sadly, that's exactly what he did.

* * *

"How much further?" Ryan moaned. He had taken up annoying asking when they were going to arrive at their destination. Kryptid scowled.

"A long while to go,_ buddy_." He said the last word with such force that Ryan had to force himself to keep walking.

"Leave him alone," Red said smiling at him. Ryan smiled back. Blue gave Kryptid a punch, and winked at Ryan. Kryptid didn't even bother to feign pain like he had the last seventeen times this had happened, and instead kept walking.

"Don't mind him," Red whispered to Ryan. "He's just being a little shit because his friend died."

"How'd that happen?" Ryan asked. Red smiled.

"She was cut in half."

* * *

Kryptid was finally beginning to notice familiar surroundings. Eventually the tall, gnarled trees came to an end, and they walked into stony crag land. The darkness appeared lighter here, although he was pretty sure it was just an illusion.

"Not this place," Blue muttered angrily, and Kryptid sighed.

"Afraid so," he said, and Ryan gasped as a large, although partially destroyed, city wall came into view.

* * *

**So, there's another chapter. I'd like to thank _The Infernal Archer_ for Ryan, the all new character (in case you hadn't noticed).**

**Anyway, thanks for reading!**

**~ Dark**


	6. Infection

Steve was fast asleep.

He was dreaming. He knew that much, but he couldn't even make out the surroundings of his dreamscape. Everything was blurred, and darkness prevailed. Steve was just getting use to this strange land inside his head when something leered at him in the shadows, and a sharp pain pierced his left hand. It lasted for barely a second, and when it was gone all he could feel was a strange sensation, like a cross between tingling and tickling.

Suddenly, a voice came, calling in from the outside world. And it was calling his name.

* * *

Steve awoke to Destructo shaking him awake, screaming in his ear.

"Steve! Steve! Wake up!"

_I'm awake_, he wanted to say, but he couldn't. He couldn't move his mouth.

"Steve! Your eyes are open, so you must have heard me!" Destructo continued screaming. "Give me some sort of sign you're not brain dead!"

Steve mustered all of his energy into stopping whatever it was that was paralysing him, and he yelled back in Destructo's face.

"I'm alive you bloody idiot!"

Destructo sat back and gave a sigh of relief.

"Oh good." He glanced at Steve's arm. "You might want to take a look at that though."

Steve turned his head. It was a slow process, and it was incredibly painful. Eventually, however, he was able to glimpse his hand.

Half of it wasn't there.

His little and ring fingers were missing, and he watched as skin, flesh and bone peeled away from him, disintegrating into white lines of strange writing, and disappearing into the air.

"What the fuck?" was all Steve was able to say, and he collapsed onto his back.

"I need something to eat," he moaned, and Destructo practically force fed him a piece of steak. It helped, but not by much. He sat up.

Everyone was crowded around him. Kevin was inspecting his disappearing hand, from a distance of course. Ginja and Isodion stood nearby, staring at him, wondering what was wrong. And Destructo stood directly in front of him, eyes wide, hoping against hope that his friend wasn't dying.

"I think it's safe to say that you have no idea what's happening, Steve?" Kevin asked, and Steve nodded.

"Your body seems to be slowly disappearing into lines of text. Why is that?" he wondered out loud.

"I haven't that slightest idea," Steve said.

"We should probably hurry," Kevin muttered. Steve frowned.

"Hurry?"

"If we can get to my lab, I could do something to help your… affliction," Kevin answered, and began to pack up the campsite. Steve slowly climbed to his feet and shook his head, trying to clear it of the wooziness, and he eventually just sat down again. When everyone was ready, Destructo and Isodion helped him to his feet, and they were on the move.

* * *

"We're lost aren't we?" Destructo groaned, and Kevin shook his head, although Steve could tell he was getting worried.

"No… It should be right around here somewhere…" he trailed off, gesturing to their right.

"So, we're lost."

"No!"

"Then what are we? We're certainly not found," Destructo muttered nonsensically.

Kevin spun in a circle before collapsing to the ground. Steve was welcome for the rest, so he slowly lowered himself to the ground until he came into a sitting position.

His arm was getting worse. The 'infection' had spread about halfway to his elbow, and even though he hadn't lost anymore of his hand, he could tell that if he lost too much more most of his arm would just fall off.

"If you wouldn't mind," he said to Kevin, who was still on his knees, examining the map, "could you hurry up?"

Kevin nodded, jumping to his feet, and walking into the darkness with Ginja close behind, her hand ablaze with fire.

"So, the world has gone to shit," Destructo was saying. "How about that?"

"Huh?" Steve asked, not sure where this was going.

"I thought we were going to win. Like, I mean, we probably still will, but… I just thought we would beat him-it, I mean."

"Right."

"Is that how you feel, Isodion?" Destructo asked, and Isodion looked up. His skin was sunken down to the bone.

_He always looks like that_, Steve thought, but even as the little voice in his head said that he knew that it was different from the norm.

"Um… Yeah. Sure. Why not," Isodion mumbled, and Destructo frowned.

"What's up?" he asked, and Steve forced himself to sit up straighter, to see Isodion's face clearer.

"Just. I can feel it. The Void. It's, it's… It's eating away at me. I'm always absorbing energy. Constantly. It's the only thing that keeps me alive. But now, I can't get any healthy energy from the world around me. The only energy I can get… It's slowly killing me."

Steve and Destructo stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Well shit," they said in unison.

"That was deep," Destructo said quietly. Steve gave a slight nod, and Isodion, smiled. It was a sad smile.

"I don't know how much I'm going to survive like this, but I reckon we need to get to the Aether as soon as possible."

Steve nodded, even as his face contorted into a frown.

"We still don't know whether Kevin's plan will work."

"It has to," Isodion said. "Otherwise, we're all dead."

* * *

In the End, the Void felt something. It couldn't quite put its fing- well, it didn't even have physical form, so how could it? It chuckled at its joke. But, this feeling. It was strange. It felt like someone was…

_No_, it thought. _There is no way they would risk it_.

_Then again, they aren't the smartest creatures out there_.

The Void felt something inside of it. Something that felt suspiciously like pleasure.

_Good._

* * *

**The Aether...**

**That's cool.**

**~ Dark**


	7. The Nether

Rookie landed in a heap at the bottom of the ravine. It was dark down here, but not as dark as it had been up there. Lava gave off warm light around her, and she realised how lucky she had been to not fall into the molten rock.

Something moved in the darkness. At first, she thought it was one of those horrible Void monsters, but she almost smiled when she realised it was just a zombie.

Her swords took its head.

Rookie moved further into the caves.

* * *

She was alone. She had tried to look past the thoughts and feelings that had been swirling around her head for the past week, but she couldn't.

Jeffery was dead.

Now that the words had actually formed, it didn't make it any easier. Rookie collapsed, curling up into a ball. She began to cry.

* * *

After… Well, Rookie didn't know exactly how long she had been lying there. She climbed to her feet, and ran into the caves.

She eventually made it to a glowing obsidian portal. The last active Nether portal in all of Minecraftia. She wasn't exactly sure how she'd known it would be here, or how she'd known that Herobrine hadn't closed it off, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was getting into the Nether.

Only then could she help her friends.

* * *

Rookie couldn't remember much about the days that followed the Void's invasion. She had fled from the battlefield, eventually making her way to the town, which she found in flames. Somehow she had located Jeffery, had escaped from the mobs of angry and frightened people, and had started her search for this Nether portal.

Then, while she was helping a small band of people she had known from the town, they took Jeffery, and hate him.

They were all dead now.

* * *

The Nether was just like it always was.

Hell.

Rookie watched as enormous cubes of magma slowly hopped pass. The cores of these monsters glowed softly, softly illuminating the nearby netherrack. They ignored her completely, and Rookie moved on.

Lava dripped from the ceiling of the cavern, and the same molten rock filled enormous lakes and oceans on the floor of the Nether. Rookie was already dripping in sweat, and she wasn't looking forward to the long trek she had ahead of her.

* * *

The only colour Rookie could see was red. She wasn't sure when she had passed out, or how long she had been passed out for. Groggily, Rookie pulled herself up, and she felt a burning sensation on her arm.

Her sleeve was on fire.

At first, she didn't care. The heat didn't really bother her, and the flames that leapt at her face didn't seem to be burning her.

Rookie shook her head, and the pain hit her like a brick wall. She tore off her sleeve and shoved it aside, and it went tumbling into a lake of lava.

"Ouch," she muttered, and she ripped off her jacket, wrapping it around her damaged arm. Shrugging off her drowsiness, Rookie set off again.

* * *

Once again Rookie found herself staring up at an enormous fortress made out of red brick, sitting in the middle of an ocean of lava. She noticed the tall, black skeletons stalking the battlements, and the enormous white monsters floating through the sky. Rookie wasn't sure whether she'd be able to get into the fortress without causing a scene, so she shrugged to herself.

Now was not the time for subtlety.

* * *

Riding on a ghast was fun. That was the only thing Rookie had learnt in the last few minutes, as she soared through the Nether on the back of one of those crying beasts. It spat a fireball, destroying the cavern's ceiling.

Arrows rained into the sky, but they missed. Rookie peered down on the skeletons, trying desperately to shoot her down. She laughed, and shoved her sword into the back of the ghast. It screeched in pain, and a dozen arrows thudded into its underside. The crying stopped, and it spiralled towards the ground.

* * *

The crash hurt Rookie. Not much, but enough. She clambered to her feet, her hands filling with energy. The wither skeletons glared at her, and she smiled.

"Come on then. Fight me." She stared at one in particular, and it drew its sword. Rookie smiled again.

The skeleton never saw it coming.

The energy gave off a light so brilliantly bright it blinded everything in its path. Rookie closed her eyes, sensing where her enemies were rather than seeing. To her left. Behind her. In front of her.

She opened her eyes. Dust surrounded her, and at first she thought she was safe.

How wrong she was.

* * *

The sound of blazes surrounded Rookie. Fireballs flew at her, and she ducked down, dodging out of the side. A sword lay beside her, and she swiped it up. Blocking a fireball, Rookie jumped at a blaze, cutting it in half. She jabbed one in the eye, and it spun away in pain.

The sword shattered. Energy filled her hands again, and Rookie let it loose at several blazes at once. Cutting through one more, she looked around. The blaze she had jabbed in the eye flew up from behind her, and a fireball it Rookie in the back. Her jacket protected her, and she spun around.

The last blaze was soon dead.

Then something knocked her over the back of the head, and she felt the world turn sideways, a soft thud sounding when she hit the ground.

* * *

Rookie awoke at the opening to an enormous hall. At the end, steps led up to a large throne, and sitting in the throne was a white eyed man with the aura of a god.

"Who is this one?" Herobrine snarled, and the wither skeleton that had hauled Rookie into the hall dropped her in fear. At a scowl, the skeleton hurriedly dragged Rookie to her feet and closer to the throne.

Rookie flicked her hair out of her face, and Herobrine's face lit up, but only a little. His scowl was gone, but replaced with something that was even worse. Contempt.

"Oh," Herobrine said, "It's you, creeper."

"My names Rookie," she hissed.

"Right. Like that matters," Herobrine frowned. "How did you get into the Nether?"

"I walked in. There's an open portal in the Overworld."

Herobrine scowled again, and closed his eyes. After a few seconds, he opened them again.

"It's closed."

"We need your help," Rookie said, getting straight to the point.

"We?" Herobrine asked.

"Everyone in the Overworld."

"And what do I owe to them?" Herobrine said, glaring at her.

"You owe us."

"No, I did owe you. Not anymore."

"You and I both know that a map isn't worth the entire Nether. And besides, you said you'd help us against the Void," Rookie smiled. "Now's your chance."

Herobrine continued to glare. Finally, he spoke.

"What do you want me to do?"

"You need to team up with Notch."

* * *

**Rookie is alive. But is the pig?**

**No. It's not.**

**~ Dark**


	8. Return to the City

Graham struggled against the horde of monsters surrounding them. His hands were splayed against an invisible wall of solid air, and this was the only thing that stood between them and the darkness. Perspiration soaked his brownish-blond hair, and he blinked some tears out of his aqua eyes. The strain was becoming too much.

"I can't hold out forever," he muttered, and his friend sighed. His name was Zack, and he had blonde hair and blue eyes. He also had an iron short sword hanging at his waist that was giving on a faint glow.

Zack stood with his arms raised towards the sky. He closed his eyes, and felt an unimaginable pain as he fell to the ground, summoning the undead in the process.

Ten skeletons clawed their way out of the ground. They all wore intricately woven chainmail armour, and each drew their respective weapons, ready to fight.

"You can stop now," Zack said, climbing back to his feet. Graham nodded, and closed his hands into fists. Sweeping them aside, he launched some the monsters away, and then drew his broadsword.

The monsters hit them like a brick wall.

* * *

Kryptid watched in amusement as he saw the two kids and their skeleton buddies fight back the horde. After a few minutes, he pulled a small orb out of his pocket.

"I hope this works," he said, as he lobbed the fire charge into the monsters.

The smell of burning flesh filled the air.

Kryptid smiled.

"Let's go," he said, disappearing.

* * *

Zack sank to the ground. His skeletal warriors were all but destroyed, with only a few still standing, while the others were dust. He was too tired, and he accepted his death as the monster leered over him.

Suddenly, he wasn't where he was. He was on a nearby roof. Spinning around, bewildered, Zack saw a strange figure outlined against the darkness.

"I'm Kryptid," the figure said, before disappearing.

* * *

Blue's blade tore through flesh, making the burning monsters even less likely to kill anyone before they inevitably burned. She felt heat behind her, but her sword was stuck in the malformed rib cage of another monster. Lief leaped out of her clothing, slashing through the monster's neck. Blue managed to get her sword free, and spun around to find an injury-free ocelot staring back at her.

Blue sighed in relief, and dodged away from a rotting monster. It was launched away forcefully by air, and Graham nodded to Blue, before turning away to fight a monster. Kryptid appeared beside the both of them, a torch in each hand. He gave one to Blue, then shoved the torch into the monster Graham was fighting's face.

"Use the flames. Burning the body is the only way to kill them," he said, then he vanished again.

* * *

Kryptid helped Zack to his feet.

"That's a pretty cool ability you got there. What exactly are you?" Kryptid asked, and Zack shrugged.

"I'm Zack, a human. Besides that ability, I'm perfectly normal," Zack said, holding onto Kryptid for support. "What the hell are you?"

"I'm an Ender. I'll explain later. We need a safe place to rest."

Zack nodded.

"What are you willing to give in return?"

"Um," Kryptid paused. "A chance to help us get rid of this darkness?"

Zack raised an eyebrow.

"You're going to try and get rid of the Void?" he exclaimed, and Kryptid nodded.

"Yeah. How do you know about it?"

"I grew up here. It's kinda hard to not find out about it."

Kryptid nodded. "Well, we're not just trying to get rid of it. We will."

Zack looked doubtful.

"I guess, it's better than sitting around waiting to die. Get them out of there, and Graham and I will take you to somewhere safe."

* * *

Kryptid teleported everyone to the roof, and looked down at the mass of rotting bodies, which were trying to climb up the building to get to them. Kryptid turned to Ryan, and gestured to the monsters.

"Light 'em up," he smiled, and Ryan pulled a few arrows from his quiver. He let them fly into certain points into the horde, and the arrows caught fire as they flew. Each arrow hit a piece of TNT, Kryptid having placed those moments earlier. The TNT ignited, and within moments the monsters were mostly dead.

Kryptid turned to Zack and Graham.

"Lead the way."

* * *

The castle stood foreboding before them.

"You could have told me this was where you were taking us! I could've teleported us here," Kryptid exclaimed. Zack and Graham nodded.

"Yes, but we wanted to find out more about you. Make sure you weren't going to, eat our flesh or something," Graham said, smiling.

"You two are weird," Red said, walking through the massive, open wooden doors that marked the entrance to the castle. Lupa bounded beside her, and Kryptid followed the others as they each walked through the door.

The torches inside the castle were all burning low, and Kryptid didn't like the shadows that seemed to move in between the light. Even he couldn't see through the darkness of the Void.

Turning to Ryan, Kryptid gestured to the unlit chandelier hanging from the centre of the ceiling.

"Light it up."

* * *

With all the entrances closed and boarded up, and an enormous fire burning in the middle of the room, it almost felt safe. Almost.

The group sat around the fire, taking in its warmth and nibbling on portions of meat and bread.

Kryptid laughed along with the others, but inside he was mulling over his plan. They had to get to a certain place. He wasn't sure where it was, but he could sense that they were heading in the right direction. In a few days, they would be there. Kryptid wasn't sure what would happen when they got there, but he was hoping he would meet up with Steve there. If Steve was still alive.

Suddenly, a massive crash echoed through the room. Kryptid teleported to a standing position, and spun around to face the source of the noise. The door was being ripped apart from the outside.

The group all drew there weapons, and faced the door. More banging came from behind them, and Kryptid saw a fleshy hand smash through the window.

"Get ready," Kryptid muttered. "We're going to have to fight our way out of this."

* * *

**Another chapter, finally.**

**Thanks to GGuy12345 for Graham and Zack. Their powers are awesome.**

**~ Dark**


	9. The Laboratory

The entrance to Kevin's lab opened up, releasing a strong musty stench with the years of neglect. Dust covered every surface, and there were even some cobwebs hanging from the ceiling.

Big ones.

Everything below Steve's elbow on his left arm was missing, and the rest of his arm was starting to disappear faster and faster than before.

"Can you hurry up?" he asked loudly, and Kevin shushed him.

"I'm hurrying. Shut up!" Kevin almost screamed, diving into an enormous pile of paper and debris. Steve looked at his arm, where his biceps were starting to disappear along with the rest of his arm.

A chattering noise echoed out of the darkness that was nearby.

"Shit," Steve muttered, summoning his sword into his right hand as a spider walked out of the shadows. It leapt at him, resulting in it being split head to abdomen. Spiders began to poor out of the various doorways leading deeper into the lab.

Fire and arrows flew through the air, as Destructo and Ginja began attack the arachnids. Isodion drew his sword and stood back to back with Steve. Kevin continued searching for whatever he need to slow the infection, and the spiders attacked.

* * *

Kevin ignored the crashing, cutting, and crushing sounds he could hear behind him, and focused at the task at hand. Most of his alchemical knowledge was missing from his memory after the years spent locked up, but he tried what he could remember. Grabbing a nearby book, he scanned its pages for any useful information. Nothing. Throwing it backwards, he heard it hit something, and turned his head to see a spider, dazed, with the book lying on the floor beside it.

Jumping up, Kevin slammed a broken glass bottle into its head.

"I have work to do," he hissed at its dead body.

* * *

Steve ducked underneath a spider that leaped at him. He brought his sword into its underbelly, killing it. Two more spiders stalked around him nearby, taunting him, hissing.

"Come on," Steve said, trying to gesture with his left arm, realising halfway through the motion that there wasn't an arm to gesture with.

"Shit," he muttered, running at the spiders. His sword sliced through them easily, but Steve kept moving, cutting through a spider as it attempted to take a bite out of Kevin's back.

Destructo ran past with a spider on his back, desperately swatting at it. He tripped, landing on the spider, crushing it beneath him. Steve shook his head, and helped him to his feet. Wedge stood backed into a corner with his sword held out in front of him, spiders surrounding him. They ran over, stabbing and cutting their way through the arachnids.

As more and more spiders came rushing out of the depths of the laboratory, Kevin jumped up in excitement.

"Yes!" he shouted. Steve ran over to him, wiping blood off of his sword.

"You've got the cure?" Steve asked. Kevin glared at him.

"Don't be so stupid. I know what I need to do. Just hold off those spiders for a bit longer."

Steve shook his head and spun around, decapitating a spider in the process.

"Well, can you hurry up? We need to get out of here!"

"Yeah, yeah. I've got the stuff. Just need you to grab what we need for the portal, then we can leave."

"Okay," Steve said, "Just hurry up."

Kevin shrugged, and started to search through the dusty chests that stood nearby.

* * *

Within minutes, Kevin made his way past the dead spiders, and injured spiders, and live spiders, and started to climb the stairs out.

"Get your arses out of there!" he shouted, as he flipped a switch. Everyone made it half way up the stairs when an explosion sounded deep in the laboratory.

"Shit!" Destructo screamed, as he started sprinting up the stairs. They made it to the top, where Kevin was waiting some twenty metres away.

"Don't just stand there!" he shouted, as more explosions went off behind them. The others leapt forward, narrowly escaping fiery death.

"Was that really called for?" Steve asked, panting.

"I don't want anyone getting their hands on my research," Kevin said matter of factly, and he passed Steve a glass bottle, full of a pinkish liquid.

"Drink this. Should stop the destruction of the rest of your body." As he said this, he turned around, and walked off into the darkness.

Looking around at each other, the group ran after him.

* * *

The group found Kevin standing on a hill, with a glowstone frame in front of him. In his hand was a bucket of water.

"What took you guys so long?" he asked, and Steve glared at the back of his head.

"There were monsters along the way. You didn't notice them?"

"I wasn't paying attention. Time to see if my research payed off," he muttered, pouring the water over the frame work.

Immediately a bright blue vortex of light appeared in the centre of the frame, filling it.

The group stood in awe, but after a few seconds Steve heard something coming from the darkness. And it was then Steve realised their dilemma.

"If one of them gets through the portal, the Void will take over the Aether."

Kevin's eyes widened.

"Shit."

The group drew their weapons. And the monsters began to close in.

* * *

Kevin jumped through the portal as soon as the first monster raised its ugly head. Steve cut through it, and kicked another monster in the chest, launching it back into the darkness.

Destructo launched a volley of arrows into another, and he stood back as Ginja set it on fire. Steve looked back, and saw Isodion practically tripped through the portal, and turned back to face the endless darkness. More and more monsters started coming out, and while Steve knew they'd kill as many as they could, they would get overrun.

"One of us is going to have to stay behind and close the portal," Destructo said. Steve and Ginja stared at him as he pulled TNT out of his pocket.

"No-," Steve began, but Destructo cut him off.

"Yes. I'm volunteering. Get the hell out of here."

Ginja reluctantly made her way to the portal, and Steve followed her, but slowly.

"Are you sure," he said, "because I could probably just be reborn again or-."

Destructo shook his head.

"If I live, I'll see you later."

Steve smiled sadly.

"Bye," he said, as he walked through the portal.

* * *

Destructo faced the monsters, TNT surrounding him. In his hand he held a torch.

He let the torch fall from his hand as the monsters surrounded him. He smiled.

"COME AT ME MOTHER FUCKERS!"

* * *

**Well... at least he went out in a bang?**

**I feel really bad now. I mean, I'd had this planned for a while, but, wow.**

**~ Dark**


	10. Escaping the City

Kryptid stood with the others, burning the massive pile of corpses that had amassed from the fight.

"We need to burn these quickly before they-," Kryptid paused for a second to kick a monster that was struggling to crawl away into the fire, "come back to life."

"We're trying!" Red screamed as a monster grabbed onto her leg. She stabbed it in the eye, and tossed it into the flames.

"Maybe if you calmed down, it would be easier," Kryptid muttered, standing back to watch the corpses burn.

"Maybe if you guys learnt to work together as a group, this would've been done an hour ago," Zack muttered, and Graham chuckled behind him.

"Maybe if you guys could shut up so I don't miss?" Ryan said, aiming his bow at the far side of the room, where a monster was slowly crawling away from them. It was alight within seconds.

Kryptid teleported onto the roof. Looking out at the surrounding city, all he could see was smoke. The city was in flames. He wasn't sure when the fire had started, but it had started at the entrance of the city, and soon had overcome the surrounding houses. The fire didn't look like it was going to die down anytime soon.

Teleporting back inside, he turned to the others.

"If we're gonna leave, we need to find a new way out. The entire city is still on fire."

"There's a way out of the city through the dungeon. But it's dark down there. Who knows what's down there," Graham said, and Zack nodded in agreement.

"Okay. Grab what you need, we'll leave within the hour."

* * *

Graham and Zack began pressing every single stone on the wall. They had cleared away all the tables and weapon racks from the dungeon wall, and now they were trying to find the switch that unlocked the hidden passageway.

"Are guys sure that there's a way out here?" Blue asked, as she sat on a table, patting Lief.

"Yes," Graham muttered. "We used it to escape last time we were locked up in here."

"The last time?" Red asked.

"Yeah. We've been in gaol here multiple times."

"Right. Can't you just have your zombie friends search?" Kryptid asked, yawning as he juggled knives.

"It takes a lot of energy for me to just summon one. And they're only good at fighting," Zack said.

"And please stop juggling knives. You'll hurt yourself," Blue muttered.

Kryptid grinned, dropping the knives in the process. Placing them back on the weapon rack, he walked over to the wall, and kicked it.

A section of the wall slid away, revealing the passage.

"That's how you do it," Kryptid smirked. "C'mon."

* * *

They could only fit two abreast in the stone corridor. Kryptid and Blue stood at the front, followed by Red and Ryan, then Lupa, and Graham and Zack brought up the rear.

"It's really dark down here," Kryptid said, holding the torch out in front of him.

"No shit," Blue muttered, and Kryptid smirked.

"What!?" she shouted, and he waved his hand at her.

"Calm down, and be quiet," Kryptid told her, still smirking. Blue snarled at him, but kept quiet.

"Let's keep moving."

* * *

"Well, that's a monster." Kryptid ducked behind the sharp turn in the passageway.

"Well, let me kill it or something," Ryan said, turning the corner, his bow raised. An arrow sped through the darkness, setting the living corpse at the end of the corridor alight.

"Let's go!" Kryptid shouted, as they ran down the corridor and leapt over the burning monster. They burst through the exit, into the outside world. The darkness was still everywhere.

"Keep moving," Kryptid said. "Don't stop until we reach the tree line!"

And they ran.

* * *

They camped out for the night, or day, or whatever time it was, and Kryptid had the first watch. Blue joined him as he sat near the fire.

"You should really get some sleep," he muttered, cleaning his sword on a dirty rag he carried around with him.

"Well, I'm not tired," Blue said, stifling a yawn. Kryptid smirked.

"If you're going to stay awake, watch over the group for a bit. I need to go get firewood." Kryptid lit a torch alight, and walked off into the darkness.

* * *

Kryptid came back after a few minutes, and found Blue asleep.

"I gave you one job," he said, shaking his head. He threw a cloak over her, and sat down with his back against a tree. With his sword on his lap, he waited.

* * *

Kryptid looked around at the others. They had left the city behind them, and were now making their way towards the sea.

"It can't have spread far," Kryptid said. "We just need to get out of the Void's grasp, and we'll be able to figure out what our next move is."

"But who could say that the Void hasn't already taken over the entire world?" Blue said, and Kryptid shook his head.

"I know, but what else are we supposed to do? The Void can _see_ everything in this darkness. It knows what we're doing right now!"

Blue looked at him, dead in the eye, and Kryptid's will crumbled.

"Okay. What do you suggest we do?"

"We go through the portal into the End and kick its butt."

Kryptid raised an eyebrow.

"It doesn't have a butt to kick."

"That doesn't mean we can't try! And it's better than running away. I'm not running."

Kryptid smiled. "Fine. But if we die, I'm going to kill you."

* * *

**Another chapter finished...**

**~ Dark**


	11. The Aether

Steve tumbled out of the portal, hitting the ground hard. Within seconds, he heard a _whoosh_, and turned around to see a glowstone frame, with no sign that it was ever active. Climbing to his feet, he looked around, and saw a place that was familiar, and different, to him. Clouds and floating islands dotted the sky around him. Stone bridges spanned the gaps between the major islands, and smaller, wooden bridges connected the less important islands. On the island Steve found himself on stood an enormous marble castle, rising high into the bright blue sky. White and blue banners flapped in the wind, and Steve smiled. He hadn't been here for, what, a month?

A winged warrior greeted him, nodding as he walked past. He walked past Wedge, who was staring in awe at his surroundings, Zephyr flying high in the sky above them. Kevin's hand was a blur as he took notes describing the scenery surrounding him. Ginja was sitting on a bench, her head in her hands, occasionally glancing up at the glowstone frame. Steve frowned, and he looked around, searching for Isodion. He finally saw him, rubbing his head as he stumbled towards the castle.

"Get up," Steve said, as he jogged past Ginja, Kevin and Wedge. He ran all the way to Isodion, catching before he could reach the gate to the castle.

"Are you okay?" he asked, and Isodion nodded.

"The Void… was really… effecting me," he said, gasping for air. "I need… help. And… so do you."

Steve looked down at his left arm. Or, the lack of his left arm.

"Yeah, we probably need help," he muttered.

"And I'm here to bring it!" a voice boomed from the castle. Walking towards them, smiling and waving, was Notch.

* * *

"I didn't expect to see you so soon," Notch said, smiling as he led Steve and Isodion to the infirmary.

"Yeah, well, we didn't really have a choice," Steve said. Notch turned to look at him, and his smile faded.

"Sorry, I have to pretend everything is alright when I'm out in public. You shouldn't have risked opening the portal, although I'm glad you did," Notch said. "With my help, you might actually have a chance at stopping this thing."

"Right. What exactly are we supposed to do?" Steve asked, as they entered the infirmary.

"I'll tell you in front of everyone, just get yourselves fixed up."

"Okay," Steve said. "Thank you."

* * *

Steve screamed as his arm slowly returned to him. White symbols appeared in the air, turning into flesh and bone, and reattaching themselves to his body.

Isodion lay, under sedative, in a nearby bed, but he didn't stir as Steve shouted every profanity he could think of. One of the winged guards – Valkyries – stood at the door, trying her hardest not to look at Steve as he continued to swear.

After a few hours, long after Steve had stopped screaming, his arm was fully healed.

"Finally," he gritted his teeth. He tried to climb out of bed, but as he sat up his vision spun and he collapsed back into the bed.

"Fuck." He drew the word out, staring at the Valkyrie.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Could you come over here for a minute?"

The Valkyrie glanced around, then walked over. She removed her helmet, and stared at him.

"What?" she hissed.

"Could I have some water?" he asked, and the Valkyrie snarled.

"You have some right there." She pointed at a table, a glass bottle full of water sitting on it.

"Oh… right," Steve said. "I guess I just want someone to talk to."

"Yeah, well, I'm not allowed to leave my post. Something could go wrong at any moment. Especially with the Void _fucking_ around in the Overworld."

"You don't seem as, formal, as any of the other Valkyries I've met," Steve said.

"That's because I'm not a regular Valkyrie. Half human. I just happened to get lucky and get a spot on Notch's guard," she said, almost angrily. "Look at me! I'm down here, in the infirmary!"

Steve stared at her, and she shrugged.

"Here, have this." She gave him a golden apple. Steve ate it, and climbed out of bed, feeling refreshed.

"You better find Notch. You need to discuss the solution to this problem. I'll keep an eye on your friend."

Steve nodded, and began to leave the room. He turned back.

"What's your name?" Steve asked.

"Gemini."

* * *

Notch glanced up to see Steve walk into the room.

"Steve! You're back on your feet early," Notch said. "Just in time as well. I was about to call you all together to discuss how to save my creation from the Void."

"When?"

"Right now. I'll meet you in the conference room."

* * *

Steve's group stood around the conference table, along with several of Notch's advisors. Notch stood at the head of the table.

"There isn't much we can do, to be honest. I will allow you all to stay here, ride out the storm, if you believe you can't accomplish what I'm planning, but if one of you leaves, you all leave." Notch looked around at all of them. Steve glanced at the others. They all had looks of determination on their faces. He heard noise behind him, and he turned to see Isodion, who nodded.

"Okay then," Notch said, rubbing his hands together. "Basically, what I need you to do is-."

He was cut off by a flash of purple light. The wall beside him began crumbling apart, an obsidian frame appearing, with a swirling portal in the middle of it. The light cleared, revealing an unexpected sight.

"Rookie!" Steve shouted, and Rookie smiled, waving. Beside her stood a less welcome sight.

"Herobrine?" Notch asked.

"I'm back!" Herobrine shouted in glee. "I know you said that I was banned from the Aether and everything, but I have a proposal for you."

Notch scowled. "What?"

Herobrine smirked. "I think I can help."

* * *

**Herobrine is still one of my favourite characters to write.**

**Anyway, I have a poll up about what my next Minecraft story should be about. Go and vote if you have the time.**

**Thanks**

**~ Dark**


	12. Aimless Wandering

Blue mumbled to herself as she came out of her deep sleep. They had set up camp in a small cave set into a cliff, and she didn't remember falling asleep. She noticed Kryptid's arms wrapped around her, and started to cuddle up beside him. After a few seconds, she realised what she was doing.

Blue screamed as she jumped to her feet, and the rest of the group were startled from their sleep. Red ran back in the cave, as she'd been on guard duty outside, and noticed Blue's expression.

"What happened?" Kryptid mumbled, as he climbed to his feet. Red laughed.

"You guys looked so snug together," she said in an annoying voice. "I thought I'd leave you be."

Blue shook her head, trying her best to calm down.

"Why wouldn't you have woken me up?" she shouted at her friend. Red shrugged.

"You seemed to be enjoying yourself. And it was cold, so I thought you'd be warmer," she said, smiling.

Blue's face turned red, and Kryptid started to smile. Blue spun to face him, and Kryptid winced.

"Why are you smiling?" she asked. Kryptid smiled again – he couldn't help it.

"You were the one who came over and lay down next to me. You have a very selective memory."

Blue's face turned an ever brighter shade of red.

By this stage, Graham, Zack, and Ryan were all standing around the burnt out remains of the fire, looking on in shock at the others.

"Aren't they already a couple though?" Zack asked Graham, and Graham shrugged.

"I thought so. I guess we were both wrong."

* * *

The group set out an hour later, each baring a flaming torch and a sword. Lief was curled up in Kryptid's cloak, the two seemingly on better terms than they used to be, and Lupa bounded alongside the group, but even she didn't stray beyond the glow of the torches.

Blue glanced at Kryptid, and he caught her eye, smirking. She scowled, and looked away.

Teleporting behind her, Kryptid waited for her to look back over to where he had been walking. He burst into laughter, and she spun around and punched him in the chest.

"Ow," he said in between laughs. Blue hit him again.

"Don't do that!" she said, glaring at him. Kryptid smirked.

"You were worried!" he whooped.

"No I wasn't," she scowled. "And keep it down. We don't want to attract any monsters."

"Shit," Red muttered, raising her torch and sword. "Too late for that."

* * *

Kryptid shoved his torch inside a monster's chest, and it started to cough up smoke. Bringing his sword up, he cut through off its head. Lupa leaped onto another, and Red followed behind, set alight the monster's rotting body. Ryan shot a flaming arrow into another, then grabbed an arrow out of his quiver, shoving it into the monster's face.

Blue dodged a rotten fist that flew at her head, and threw her torch into the monster's stomach. Graham sent a wall of air flying into a couple of monsters, then set them on fire with his torch. Zack summoned a skeletal warrior, and set it on fire. The warrior ran into the monsters, setting them all on fire, taking them with it.

More monsters kept coming. Kryptid turned to the others, and shrugged.

"Run for it?"

So they ran.

* * *

The Void watched in joy as its adversaries fled from its Voidlings. Although it wanted nothing more than for them to die, it also hoped that through some miracle they made it to its domain. Then it could kill them itself.

_I like the new companions they have,_ the Void thought, _at least they aren't fawning over one and other like the Ender and that other one_.

The Void turned its mind back to the End. Or what was left of it. Shadows were swirling at the top of an enormous obsidian pillar, and energy flowed from the Void into these shadows.

A figure appeared in the middle of the shadows.

_Finally_, the Void thought. _This will be fun_.

* * *

Kryptid and the others stumbled into an abandoned house, and Red shut the door behind them.

"That isn't going to hold," Graham said, and he slammed his fist against it in frustration.

"Well then," Kryptid trailed off. "We just need to barricade all the exits and light the whole place up."

"What if that doesn't work?" Graham snapped, and Kryptid shrugged.

"Then we'll die together. If you have a problem with that, you can step outside and die by yourself. How about it?" Kryptid stared him dead in the eye, and Graham shook his head.

"Fine. If I die, I'm blaming you."

"A bit of a drama queen," Kryptid muttered, as he pushed a bookcase in front of the door. Graham glared at him, but eventually he turned away, and began to barricade the windows.

* * *

Hours later and they were still inside the house, sitting around a small fire they had started in the now cleared out living room. It was probably extremely unsafe, Blue had told Kryptid earlier, but he didn't want to freeze while they were hiding out from monsters.

After a while, almost everyone had fallen asleep. Kryptid and Graham were the only ones awake.

"You sleep. I'll take the first shift," Graham said, and Kryptid couldn't be bothered to argue. He fell asleep within minutes.

* * *

The Void smiled.

It finally smiled.

"Time for them to die."

* * *

**Sorry that this is a bit short.**

**And I'm sorry that I've been misspelling some names. Good on me. I fixed it (I think) but tell me if I'm misspelling anything, or you know, anything else I'm f*cking up.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**~ Dark**


	13. The Teleporter

Herobrine smiled as he looked around at everyone's faces.

"The looks on your faces," he laughed. "Priceless!"

"What are you doing here?" Steve asked, and Herobrine shrugged.

"I already told you. I'm here to help."

"Sure you are. What does this _help,_ as you put it, entail?"

"I have a plan," Herobrine said, looking back at Notch. "Unless you have one?"

"Go ahead."

* * *

After Herobrine had finished explaining his plan, the entire room was filled with voices. The voices began piling up, until people started shouting, trying to be heard.

"Where are the others?" Rookie whispered to Steve.

"I don't know about Kryptid and that, but Destructo..." he trailed off. "Destructo didn't make it."

"Jeffery?" he asked, and she shook her head sadly.

They both turned back to the front of the table.

Notch was trying to calm everyone down, but it was to no avail. The noise just got louder and louder, and Herobrine glanced at his brother, his smile fading. He looked back at the dozen or so other people in the room.

Suddenly, the room was filled with silence, except for a few choked gurgled as people began clutching at their throats. Herobrine smiled, releasing his hold on everyone's windpipes. He nodded to his brother.

"You were saying?"

"Herobrine's plan could actually work. Sadly, not just anyone could use that teleporter," Notch muttered. "It would have to be a… You know what."

Herobrine shrugged. "Then I'll go."

Notch shook his head, and everyone started going ballistic. Herobrine shushed them with a glare.

"I'm not letting you out of the Aether," Notch said frowning.

"Fine," Herobrine said. "You go then."

"I can't do that, and you know it," Notch scowled. "If the Void gets its filthy hands, or whatever the hell it has, on me, we're all dead."

Herobrine shrugged. "Then we can't do anything. Unless you have a play-." Herobrine cut himself off mid-sentence, glancing to the other end of the table, and Steve's eyes widened.

"You don't mean me, do you?" he asked, and Notch nodded.

"You're the only one who'll be able to use it."

"Use what?"

* * *

Notch and Herobrine led Steve to the far side of the island, showing him an old beacon base made of a shiny white gemstone.

"Quartz?" Steve asked, and Notch nodded.

"I thought that was only in the Nether."

"Yeah, well, Herobrine has no creativity."

Herobrine laughed.

"Coming from you! At least I didn't just copy all of my creatures from the-." He stopped himself, but Steve was intrigued.

"Where did he copy them from?" Steve asked Herobrine, but Notch cut in.

"Sorry Steve, but there are just some things you can't know right now."

Steve scowled, but he shut up.

"What is it that we're doing out here?" Steve asked, and Notch shrugged.

"This is the teleporter we were talking about," Notch said, gesturing to the beacon.

"And? Why am I the only one who can use it?"

"You're different from other people. I can't really explain it, but you're like Herobrine and I. Only people like us can use machines like this."

"Okay then. How long before I have to go?"

"You've got roughly twelve hours."

"Okay. I'll meet you back here in twelve hours," Steve said, and Notch nodded.

"Go say goodbye to your friends."

* * *

"I didn't know you'd made a lady friend," she laughed, gesturing to Gemini, who was sitting in the chair beside her. Ginja was sitting cross legged in the corner. Isodion and Wedge were nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, Gemini. Hey Rookie." Steve said, frowning.

"What is it?" Rookie asked.

"Notch and Herobrine aren't telling me something. I think it has to do with my life before I had my memory wiped."

"What do you mean? Aren't you, like, Herobrine's clone or something?" Gemini asked, and the others stared at her.

"What?" Steve exclaimed, and Gemini's eyes widened.

"I thought you already knew," Gemini said, looking down at her feet, her wings shifting uneasily as she did so. "Sorry."

Steve shook his head, looking around at the others.

"Herobrine has some explaining to do."

* * *

"Herobrine!" Steve bellowed, walking into the planning room, and instead found Notch, sitting with his back to the door.

"Where is he?" he shouted, and Notch turned around, shrugging.

"Not here. Probably stealing magic from me," Notch said.

"What?" Steve frowned. "Why don't you go to stop him?"

"He needs all the energy he can manage to keep those barriers up. And I can't be bothered."

"Notch?" Steve asked, and Notch looked at him.

"Yes?"

"I'm not Herobrine's son am I?"

Notch looked at him sadly for only a moment, almost so fast that Steve missed it, and he shook his head.

"No, you're not."

"What am I then?" Steve said, his voice raising. "A clone?"

Notch chuckled.

"No, you're not."

"Then what am I?" Steve exclaimed.

Notch's face turned sad.

"I can't explain it fully. I'm sorry, but before Herobrine changed you, you were a person. With a life, memories, the works."

Steve scowled in anger.

"I'm sorry," Notch said, as Steve stormed out of the room.

* * *

"Steve?" Rookie said, chasing after him as he walked past. "Dude, what's wrong?"

"Apparently, I had a life before all of this shit happened," he scowled, not stopping.

"What?"

"Herobrine wiped my memory of an entire previous life before he _changed_ me!" Steve shouted. "Steve might not even be my real name!"

Rookie stared at him, giving him a sad look.

"Don't do that."

"Don't do what?" Rookie asked, shocked.

"Don't feel sorry for me. And don't tell the others. I can figure it out when we save the world, how about that?"

Rookie nodded, smiling.

"Good."

* * *

"I'm happy to let you guys stay up here when Steve goes down to the Overworld, but I think you will be a lot more helpful down in the Overworld. And you need to find your friends," Notch was telling them, and Rookie nodded.

"I don't know about these guys, but I'm definitely going back," she said, and Ginja nodded. Kevin and Wedge shrugged. Only Isodion shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can go back down again. I'm not sure I'd make it out alive if I did," he said. And no one could argue with him there.

"That's your choice. After all this Void business however, I'm afraid I will send you back. I can't have non-Aetherians up here for too long. No offense," Notch said, and Isodion nodded.

"It's about time for you to go, Steve," Notch continued. Steve turned to the others, and smiled.

"I'll see you guys later."

* * *

"And how many seals are there?"

"Four," Notch said, giving Steve a map, as they stood in front of the teleporter.

"This is outside of Minecraftia?" Steve asked, and Notch nodded.

"I've already started working my magic. Minecraftia has been infected by the Void, but it's not spreading further than the border," Herobrine said. Steve ignored him.

"I guess I'll be seeing you then," he said, and Notch nodded.

"I sincerely hope you succeed. We need to stop the Void soon, or the Overworld, and pretty soon after that the Nether and Aether too, will be consumed back into darkness."

Steve nodded.

"But, no pressure," Notch said, smiling for the first time in days. Steve stepped into the teleporter, and Herobrine flicked a switch.

"Good luck," he said, and Steve felt a beam of light engulf him, and he shot down into the Overworld beneath him.

* * *

**Another chapter done. I hope you guys are enjoying it so far. I know I am.**

**~ Dark**


	14. Endermites

Kryptid jumped to his feet. Something had startled him, but he couldn't quite place his finger on it.

"What is it?" Blue asked, rubbing her eyes. She looked over to him, and he shrugged.

"I don't know. Thought I… Nevermind," he said, but he jumped again.

"What?"

"I think there's something in the house…" he muttered, and he walked over to the wall, placing his hand against it. This time he was sure of it.

"Yeah. There's definitely something here…"

Kryptid pressed his ear against the wall, and jumped back in shock.

"Nope, nope, nope!" he shouted, teleporting several metres away from the wall.

"What is it?" Blue said, climbing to her feet.

"Oh my fucking god," Kryptid muttered, as a large, purple bug crawled out of a hole in the wall, and stared at Kryptid with small, black, lifeless eyes.

Blue burst into laughter.

"What? A _silverfish_!?" she laughed. She walked over to the bug, and smashed it beneath her foot.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT FOR?!" Kryptid screamed, and everyone who wasn't already awake jolted out of their sleep. Blue looked taken aback.

"I'm sorry," Blue whispered. "But it's just a bug."

"That was an _endermite_," Kryptid said angrily. "You just pissed off all of them."

"All of them? There was only one. And what the hell is an endermite?"

Kryptid looked at her as if she'd just stabbed him. "What you just saw is an endermite! They are bugs from the End. They infest buildings, teleporting in and breeding into the millions. If you have one, you have an infestation."

"And?"

Kryptid stared at her. He shook his head.

"I haven't seen one of these in _years_. If there is one here, of all places, it means the Void sent it. That also means that there is going to be more. A lot more. And I'm not dealing with them."

He shivered. "They're disgusting."

Blue shrugged. "Fine. I'll go look for some, and kill them. You wait here and figure out how we're going to deal with all those monsters outside the house."

Kryptid nodded. "As long as it's as far away from the bugs as I can possibly be."

* * *

Blue and Red began searching the house for any signs of endermites, listening for, what Kryptid described as, a distinctive chattering sound.

"What is his deal?" Red asked, and Blue shrugged.

"Probably afraid of them. Like, insectophobia, or whatever it's called."

"Right. I mean, how bad can it be?"

Suddenly, the wall to the left of her was ripped apart by hundreds of purple bugs.

* * *

Kryptid was busy checking their exits when he heard it again.

"Notch damn it," he muttered, and he teleported onto a nearby table.

Some of the others laughed. They weren't laughing for long.

The wave of endermites that followed Blue and Red was nothing like Kryptid had ever seen before. And they were bigger than the ones he'd seen before. Teleporting, Kryptid grabbed Blue and Red and brought them to the table he was standing on.

"How is this going to protect us from anything?" Blue asked, as Zack stabbed wildly at the endermites lunging at him.

"At least I won't have to touch them," Kryptid muttered, shivering in disgust.

"You really are disgusted by these things," Blue laughed, swatting away a lunging endermite with her hand. It merely teleported back into the air, and Kryptid slashed it through with his sword. Black liquid splattered everywhere.

When Kryptid realised what it was, he stumbled backwards, falling off the table into the swarm of hungry endermites, crushing dozens of them.

They swarmed over his face, his body, some of them taking bites out of his flesh. He screamed, and one tried to climb down his throat. Without thinking, he bit down. Black liquid filled his mouth.

He teleported back onto the table, shaking off and spitting out endermites. The black liquid dripped out of his mouth.

"Gross," he said, dodging a flaming arrow that went flying over his head. Ryan mumbled an apology, and Kryptid smiled, finally snapping. Drawing both his swords, he swung them into the mass of endermites. They died in the dozens. Hundreds more poured out of the hallway.

"There is no way we are going to be able to get out of this," Graham muttered, placing his hands against the air in the hallway, blocking the rest of the endermites from getting in. Skeletal warriors swung their swords at the endermites, clearing them away until only corpses remained.

* * *

Graham struggled against the air as hundreds of bugs threw themselves at the wall, one or two teleporting through only to be smashed by Zack's skeleton warriors.

"What are we supposed to do?" Red asked. "We can't keep them at bay forever."

"We're probably going to die anyway," Graham muttered, and Kryptid shook his head.

"Keeping them at bay isn't the problem," Kryptid said. "It's what they're made of."

"What?" Blue asked.

"The black liquid. Void-stuff."

"Void-stuff?" Red laughed.

"I didn't have long to come up with a name, okay?" Kryptid said, glaring at her. "Basically, the stuff infects things, turning them into Void, creatures, I guess. Those endermites aren't normal endermites. The only other place I've seen that stuff is in fountains in the End."

"What?"

"There are these fountains in the End. Full of the stuff. Once, every couple of years, an Ender would form in one of them. A Void-born…"

"And?" Blue asked.

"Of which I was the last one born. I think that's why the Void singled me out in the first place."

"Wait just a second," Graham hissed. "You were involved in bringing about the end of the world?"

"Not right now. We need to focus on the endermites," Kryptid said, dodging the subject.

"And?" Graham hissed. "What are we supposed to do about it?"

"I don't know. Burn the house?"

"But there are monsters outside. We'll die."

"Fun," Blue said.

Graham let out a yell, and collapsed to the ground, the wall of air disappearing. The endermites swarmed back into the room.

"Oh for the love of-"

That was when the wall exploded.

* * *

**Another chapter down. A little, lore for you guys.**

**~ Dark**


	15. Samuel

Samuel rubbed his eyes.

"This is going to kill me," he muttered, staring intently at the book in front of him, not making any sense of any of the nonsense in it. Guardians? Crystals? What in the Nether did it all mean?

Standing up from his desk, Samuel made his way over to the entrance to his tent. Looking out, he looked around at the enormous sandstone monument that was slowly being unearthed – or, un_sanded_.

He chuckled at his joke.

The hieroglyphs made no sense to him, and he had spent half a decade studying the ancient language. From what he could understand, this temple was some sort of defense against an ancient force. Most likely malevolent. He just couldn't understand what this entity was. It didn't fit any description of ancient god he knew of, and he knew of all of them.

"Samuel?" a voice called from the darkness to his left.

"Yes, Marceline?" he asked. The tall girl smiled at him, her teeth gleaming. It was then Samuel realised there was something a little off about the way she smiled. Something, evil.

"Is everything alright?" She didn't stop smiling. If anything, her smile became wider. And it was then Samuel saw her eyes.

They were completely black.

"Marceline!" was all he could manage to say before she punched him in the jaw, knocking him unconscious.

* * *

Steve hit the ground in an explosion of sand and dust. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt. Not nearly as much as he thought it would, at least. Climbing out of the crater, Steve stretched, breathing in fresh air. To the north, the desert seemed to end suddenly, replaced by endless darkness.

On the edge of this darkness, however, Steve could barely make out a string of white energy, creating a barrier between the light and the dark.

"Herobrine's magic is really doing its trick," he muttered, a map appearing in his hands. Turning to the south, he looked in the general direction of the first seal. And he saw it. A large sandstone monument, jutting out of the sand. It looked like a cannon.

"I guess that must be it."

* * *

Samuel awoke, and within seconds he knew that he'd been asleep for a long time. Weeks. Possibly months.

"You're awake," a voice said in his ear, and he looked around to see Bradley, a man whom he had worked with his whole life. And he had the same terrifying smile that he had seen on Marceline before he had been…

"What the hell are you!?" Samuel shouted, straining against the rope that tied him to his chair.

"Oh, I'm still Bradley. I'm just stronger than I was. A lot stronger," Bradley said, staring at him with those dead, black eyes.

"Tell him our plan," an excitable voice said from behind him. Craning his neck, he saw the man who used to be his partner on this archaeology dig. Damien. He was smiling in the same way as the other two, and his eyes were just as black. That thing, just like the other two, was not human.

"Ah yes, our plan. You're going to join us. Then, you're going to show us how to destroy this seal," Bradley was saying. Samuel shook his head.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Samuel said, still struggling.

"I think you do," Marceline said, walking into his tent, the same smile planted on her face. "You've been asleep for a long time. But we've been waiting. Giving you time to stew in your dreams. We know what you were dreaming about."

Samuel could barely remember them, but he knew what they meant. The end of the world.

"Let us do this to you Samuel," Damien said. "You'll be a lot stronger, and you'll be able to survive the incoming wave of darkness."

"The what?" Samuel said, and Bradley smiled. He grabbed his chair, and hauled him over his head. Carrying him, he showed him outside. In the distance, an enormous wall of darkness was looming on the horizon.

The end of the world. Right there. Samuel stared at it with horror.

Suddenly, it seemed as though a beam of light shot out of the sky, hitting the ground in a massive explosion.

"What the?" Bradley muttered, and Samuel could almost laugh when he realised Bradley was no longer smiling.

* * *

Steve raced across the land. He felt invigorated, finally being out of the Void's clutches. And he could see signs of life in the area around the seal.

Within minutes, he was standing above what appeared to be an excavation site. There were several tents on the site, and he could easily make out several figures inside one of them. He jumped down into the site.

"Hello?" he asked, and someone came out of the tent. He had broad shoulders, and a tight shirt barely covering his muscles.

"Hi, I'm Steve," he said. "I'm lost, and I was wondering-"

"Lost. What, you were just wandering the desert and you got lost? Yeah, I don't think so," the man said, drawing a sword. It was then Steve saw his eyes. Steve summoned his sword into his hand.

The man stared at him in shock.

"You're not human."

"Not entirely." Steve charged.

* * *

Their swords clashed. Steve jumped back, and brought his left hand up, pointing it at the man.

"Go back to your demonic god, you piece of shit." And a blast of energy burnt into the man's face.

When the light died down, Steve glared at the man, who was still standing, the only marks on him a few – already healing – burns.

"What the?" Steve muttered. The man smiled.

"You need to burn them!" a voice came from inside the tent, followed by a slapping sound and a moan. Steve smiled, a torch appearing in his hand.

"You're some sort of, Void creature, or something," Steve said, as he and his opponent circled eachother.

"No, not at all. Just given power by it. And I love it."

"Well, I'm glad we had this little chat," Steve said. "I'm sorry, but we can't have freaks like you running around in the world can we."

Running at him, Steve swung his sword into the man's head, shoving the torch into his chest. The man only laughed.

"You have to actually burn my corpse. Not just set me on fire!" the man shouted in glee as the fire went out.

Steve flipped into the air, and kicked the man in the jaw. While he was disorientated, Steve ran into the tent to see a black eyed man and woman, and a man tied up in a chair.

"Hey," Steve said, punching the woman in the throat and kicking the man out of the tent. Cutting the ropes, Steve hauled the man to his feet.

"I'm Steve," Steve said, shaking his hand.

"I'm Samuel."

A loud groan came from outside the tent.

"We should go," Steve said, and they ran out of the tent.

* * *

**More lore.**

**~ Dark**


	16. Whitegold

Standing in the hole left by the explosion was a young woman. She had long dark brown hair, and her green eyes flashed in the torchlight. Clad in green, the clothes trimmed with gold, she was tanned, which was surprising considering how it had been a week or two without the sun.

"Who in the Nether are you?" Kryptid muttered, and she flashed a smile.

"I'm Sarah Whitegold, and I'm the chick that's going to save your arses."

* * *

The group ran out of the house, followed by a swarm of endermites and several undead creatures.

"So," Kryptid said, teleporting to the front of the pack, speaking to Sarah as they ran. "A Whitegold eh?"

"Yes," she hissed. "Probably shouldn't have mentioned that. Thought you were normal."

"I wasn't saying anything rude or anything. I've only been up there once. Was kinda infested with monsters. Dealt with it," Kryptid said, and he let out a laugh. "Anyway, you're the girl who ran away from home, am I right?"

"Yes," Sarah hissed, glaring at him, and she started sprinting, brandishing her torch in front of her to light the way.

Kryptid teleported beside her, and she jumped a little.

"Look, I appreciate the help and all, but how the Nether did you find us?" he asked. Sarah shrugged.

"I saw the lights. Then I heard, and I think it must have been you now that I think about it, someone screaming."

Kryptid's smiled disappeared. "Right. Anyway, what are you doing down here in the middle of Minecraftia? Long way from home."

"I don't want to be anywhere near home," she said, and gave him a look that ended the conversation. He shut up.

* * *

They didn't stop running until they reached a small deserted settlement in the middle of the forest. Sarah led them into a small house, within which was a bed, and torches lighting up every inch of the room.

"The end of the world, and you have a painting hanging on the wall?" Kryptid said, gesturing to a painting of a cat, the only bit of decoration in the room.

"You have a problem with it?" Sarah spat at him, and Kryptid shrugged. He could see Blue admiring it, and that made him smile.

"What are we doing now?" Graham asked, leaning against the wall.

"I don't know about you guys," Red said, gesturing to Blue, Kryptid, and her wolf, "but we have a world to be saving."

"You're kidding, right?" Sarah said. "You're going back out there, voluntarily?"

"The Void-," Kryptid started to say.

"The Void? What in the Nether is that?"

"The darkness. Literally everywhere? That's the Void. The thing that's trying to bring about the end of the world? That's the Void."

Sarah fell silent.

"Yeah. We're going out to kill the Void. Anyone who wants to come with us, just say," Kryptid said.

Sarah was the first to raise to her hand. Ryan looked reluctant, but when Zack nodded, and Graham was forced to agree, he was in too. Kryptid realised that everyone wanted to go.

"Fantastic. We head out in a few hours."

* * *

Sprinting through the darkness, Kryptid felt good. Finally, he was leading an army to do something good for once. Kill the Void.

Now he just had to figure out where it was. And how to kill it.

He knew which way, or at least he thought he knew which way, was north. And he knew that they were somewhere to the south of where the crack between the Overworld and the End was.

And he knew of a few legends, a few myths that could be used to kill the Void. A blade that could kill anything (although he doubted an energy lifeform that's powers were pushing on the metaphysical counted in that 'anything'), a powerful god that's job it was to be able to kill the evil (although this specific god was from a very obscure and militaristic religion that was obviously not real), and an ancient Minecraftian legend about something that could help recapture an escaped evil. Although he thought this one could be true, it didn't have anything to do with killing the bastard.

The darkness kept closing in, and with all the adrenalin pumping through his Void-born blood, Kryptid could barely think.

"How are we going to kill it," Kryptid said out loud, and immediately he heard a few of the others stop. Spinning around, he teleported back to where the others stood.

"You don't know how to kill it!?" Sarah shouted, and Kryptid shrugged.

"I was going to figure it out. And don't shout, we don't want to be found."

"Look, I don't know you people, and I don't know how you run things, but don't you think we should have a plan before we hit this thing with all we have, right?"

Kryptid scowled, but he knew he couldn't argue. She made a fair point.

"Well, what would you have us do instead? We don't exactly have a manual for killing something made of pure energy."

"Tell me what you know."

"So, what you're saying is you _can't _kill this thing?" Sarah asked, and Kryptid scowled at her.

"No, what I'm saying is I don't know _how _to kill this thing."

"Oh yeah, because that's a lot better," she said sarcastically.

"Shut up for a second, the both of you," Blue said, listening for any sounds that monsters were nearby. She almost hoped there were some nearby, just to stop them from arguing.

Kryptid teleported beside her, and lowered his voice.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were jealous," he said, smirking, and Blue punched him in the arm.

"If you two could stop flirting for a second, could we maybe figure out what we're doing here?" Sarah said, and Kryptid turned around to face her.

"We'll just have to get to the End, fight the Void, and see what happens," Kryptid said, staring her down. He scowled.

"You got a problem with that, Whitegold?"

* * *

**Thanks to King Ryukan II for the character of Whitegold. I finally know where Kryptid ended up while he was away from the Town.**

**~ Dark**


	17. The Desert Temple

Steve led Samuel out into the desert, keeping the ruins in sight.

"Do you know anything about that place?" Steve asked him, and Samuel shrugged.

"I only know the legends. Most of it isn't reliable, completely impossible," Samuel said, and Steve smiled knowingly.

"Have you seen the wall of darkness over there? That seems pretty impossible, yet it's happening," he said. "So just tell me what you know."

"Well, the ruin was built a long time ago. Like, time of the Ancients long ago. The legends say that it is _one of the seals that can be used to capture the end of the world_. How can you capture the end of world?"

"Don't worry about that. Do you have any idea how to activate this seal?"

Samuel looked startled.

"I couldn't decipher most of the hieroglyphs, but, what? You're saying all of it is true?"

"Yes. That is exactly what I'm saying. Now I'm going to need your help. You need to figure out what those glyphs mean, and help me activate the seal."

"But, what about the others? What are we going to do about them?"

"Kill them."

* * *

The next morning, Steve looked down on the camp from where he lay in the sand. A woman stood in the middle of the camp, looking around, waiting to see if they would show up. Samuel crawled beside him.

"What are we doing?" he asked. Steve shushed him.

Steve searched the rest of the camp, but couldn't see anyone else. He finally decided to go for it.

Summoning a sword into his hand, Steve jumped into the camp.

"Samuel! Figure out how to activate the seal!" he shouted, charging the woman. She spun around, and blocked his first attack.

"Nice try," she said, smiling. Steve smiled in return.

"Oops. Wrong sword," he said, switching to his _fire aspect _sword, and it burned through the woman's arm. She screamed. The sword cut through her neck. Her head still screamed as it tumbled to the floor, and Steve lit it on fire with a flint and steel.

Samuel ran to the wall of the temple, looking at the hieroglyphs. A large image of a beast, seemingly one with the desert, and a red crystal hovering over the top of the beast. Looking at the image with a new light, Samuel took the image literally, instead of metaphorically.

"That must mean that there is some way to activate it," he said, and someone grabbed him from behind, throwing him against the wall.

"Hello Samuel."

"Damien," Samuel said, struggling against his old friend's strong grip.

"How about you tell me how to activate it?"

"I don't know," Samuel said, and Damien spat in his face, tightening his grip on Samuel's neck.

Steve fell to the ground under the weight of the man from before.

"Is it time for us to fight for real this time," Steve said, throwing him off, and the man smiled, the same Notch-forsaken smile that was etched on his face the previous day.

Steve swung at him, and the man grabbed the sword, gritting his teeth in pain as it burned his flesh, and ripped it from Steve's hands. It clattered somewhere behind the man. Another sword appeared in Steve's hand, but this one wasn't enchanted.

Steve slashed at the man, but he just blocked it with his sword.

"You really think you can kill me with that?" the man laughed, and Steve shoved the sword into his chest.

The man laughed again. Steve pulled the sword out, and shoved his fist into the cavity before it healed. Pulling it out, the man looked at him in shock.

"What the hell was the point of that?" he asked, his sword flying towards Steve's head. Steve smiled, a redstone torch appearing in his hand.

He held it against the man's chest, and he turned, sprinting away.

The man's eyes widened, and the TNT Steve had shoved inside his chest detonated.

Steve ran over to his enchanted sword, and ran back, cutting off the final enemy's head as Samuel's face turned red.

Samuel fell to his knees, and gasped, sucking air into his lungs.

"You okay?" Steve asked, and Samuel nodded.

"You figured out how to activate the seal?" was his follow up question, and Samuel nodded again.

"Then go do it."

* * *

An earthquake shook the temple, and Steve heard a roar from the desert behind him.

"I'm guessing you did it?" Steve asked, as Samuel stood up after activating some very well hidden runes on one of the walls of the ruins.

"Yes!" Samuel said, stepping to the side as a pillar fell to the ground. "You should probably go kill that thing before it buries us in sand."

Steve climbed up to the desert. Several sand dunes were missing, but other than that the desert was calm.

"Oi!" Steve shouted. "Get your ugly arse out of the ground and fight me!"

The earth shook, and an enormous worm burst out of the ground in front of him. It was a pale orange, and towered twenty metres above Steve's head. Its open maw dripped acid, and a single red eye sat in the middle of its head.

"You are one ugly beast," Steve muttered, and he summoned his bow into his hand. Launching an arrow down the monsters throat, Steve rushed the creature, his sword appearing in his hand. He shoved it into the stomach of the beast, and it screamed. It tunnelled back into the ground, pulling Steve with it.

"Oh shit," he muttered, holding his breath as he was pulled into the ground.

A minute later the creature burst from the sand again, and Steve gulped in a mouthful of air. He climbed onto the creature's back, and rushed up towards its head. Spinning around, Steve shoved his sword into its eye. The monster screamed in pain, and collided with the ground.

Steve grabbed the red crystal that fell from the creature's dead eye. He raced down, back into the temple, and found Samuel at the beacon. Placing the crystal above the beacon, Steve watched as a red beam of light shot into the sky, activating the first seal.

"One down, three to go."

* * *

**The South Seal Monster (idk what else to call it, Giant Red Eyed Worm maybe?) has been defeated by Steve. The first seal has been activated.**

**What's gonna happen next, I wonder?**

**Now, replying to a review:**

_**IWishIHadAnAcount**_** \- Well. Yeah, she was one of my favourite characters, and I wish I could say that killing her off served an important purpose, but her death was only really there to further Kryptid's character development. Luckily, I have a prequel thingy planned that will at least include her a little bit, which should be great.**

**Just a little thing, I'm only really going to reply to reviews on the story if you don't have an account I can PM. Just an FYI**

**Thanks to everyone who is reading these stories, I really enjoy writing them but there would be no point without you.**

**~ Dark**


	18. Wolves

Kryptid watched in awe as a glowing blue portal appeared at the top of the hill. They had camped there for the night – or day - and Kryptid had just taken up his watch after getting a few hours sleep. Out of the portal came Rookie, Ginja, Kevin and Wedge, each with swords raised and torches ready, except for Ginja, whose hands were on fire. Wedge's eagle, Zephyr, followed after them, and the portal disintegrated, leaving no trace that anything had been there.

"We have to keep moving," Rookie said to the others, and then she saw Kryptid.

"What are the odds?" he asked, smiling, as they ran towards him.

"How has the end of the world been treating you?" Rookie asked, and Kryptid shook his head.

"It doesn't agree with me."

Rookie laughed, and she looked around at the slowly waking group around them.

"Who are all of these guys?" she asked, and Kryptid gestured to each of them, saying their names as he did.

Kryptid looked at Ginja and Wedge.

"Do you know what happened to any of the oth-"

"Destructo is… Dead."

Kryptid squinted his eyes, and blinked several times.

"Fido's dead too," he said.

"Oh. Steve is alive, as far as I know," Rookie said. "He's doing something that could possibly help kill the Void."

Kryptid's eyes widened. "Has it got something to do with seals?"

Rookie nodded.

Kryptid smiled.

"We might actually have a chance here."

"A chance?"

"We might actually be able to kill the Void."

* * *

The Void smiled. It observed a swirling mass of black energy slowly dissipate, leaving behind a dozen black creatures with glowing purple eyes.

"My children," the Void hissed. "Hunt them down, and kill them."

The beasts broke into a sprint, crossing the distance between the Void and the portal to the Overworld in seconds.

_That Ender and his friends will be dead within the week._

* * *

Kryptid led the group slowly in the direction he believed the portal to be. He couldn't be certain, but along the way he had seen a few recognisable landmarks, including the ashen remains of Rookie's old house.

It was then that he heard something. No, more like felt something approaching from behind the group.

And from the front.

Something – some _things_, were coming at them on all sides.

"Ginja! Can we have some light over here!" he said loudly, and she sent a burst of flame into the sky. Kryptid's eyes widened.

All around them were large, black wolves.

_Enderwolves._

* * *

Kryptid slashed at one with his sword, but it simply teleported behind him, forcing Kryptid to turn to face it, by which time it had already teleported again. He scowled, teleporting a few metres backwards. The enderwolf spun in confusion, and Kryptid speared it through the head with his sword.

Kryptid watched as Red's wolf, Lupa, faced off against an enderwolf almost twice her size. She snarled, and the enderwolf swiped at her, sending the poor wolf flying. Red came out of nowhere, protecting her wolf and cutting the enderwolf's head off.

Sliding to the ground, Kryptid dodged an enderwolf that leapt at him, and he brought his sword up to cut at its underbelly. It hissed in pain, and teleport several metres to his left. It lunged at him again, and Kryptid hissed at it. This seemed to at least confuse the creature.

Kryptid's sword flicked across the enderwolf's neck. Black blood spilled from the creature.

He watched as out of the darkness came a group of the undead creatures they had been fighting for the last couple of weeks.

"No," he muttered. "Not right now."

Picking up the torch he had dropped on the ground, Kryptid slashed through one of the monsters, before ducking a pouncing enderwolf, dodging away as it barrelled into the horde of monsters.

"Run!" he shouted, and the others bolted. As they were running away, Kryptid noticed the group was lacking a few members. Spinning around, he saw Ginja go down under an enderwolf, and Kryptid stopped in his tracks as he saw her throat ripped out.

He started to run away, and then he saw Lupa lying still on the ground. Red saw her too, and she started to run back. Kryptid grabbed her, and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do," he told her. She kept struggling, and Kryptid grabbed her, teleporting her back to the group. Howls came from behind them, and nine enderwolves sprinted after them.

* * *

After running for a few minutes, the enderwolves caught up with the group.

Rookie sent a blast of energy into the nearest one, launching it into the air. It hit the ground with a sickening thud. Blue stabbed one in the eye, and Red, in a fit of rage, tackled one, pummelling it to death with her fists.

Wedge kicked an enderwolf off of him, and Zephyr swooped down, clawing at the creature's eyes. Wedge proceed to bash the beast's head in with his sword.

Kryptid kicked one away from him, sending it flying into another. He stabbed his sword through the both of them, pulling it out when they were dead.

Kevin pulled a bottle out of his pocket and through it at several enderwolves that were stood next to eachother. The bottle smashed on the ground, sending water splashing over the beasts. They howled in pain, teleporting several metres away. Graham speared one with his sword, Zack killed another, and yet another was shot by Ryan with a flaming arrow.

One enderwolf remained. It took one look at its fallen brethren, and bolted. It didn't get far, however, as Sarah shot an arrow after it. The enderwolf fell to the ground, unmoving.

The group gathered around, wiping black blood off of their weapons.

"Lupa's dead," Red whimpered, and Blue gave her a quick hug, trying to comfort her. Kryptid looked at Rookie sadly.

"Ginja's dead as well," he said, and she nodded, her eyes watering. Kryptid blinked several times, then spoke to the group as a whole.

"We need to keep moving. The quicker we kill the Void, the less people will die," he said, and he started in the direction that was, to the best of his knowledge, north.

* * *

**Enderwolves. Endermites. What other creatures is the Void going to bring back from the dead and set after our heroes?**

**Probably none. I can't think of any other cool creature that would work well as an Ender. Endersheep? It'd be weird.**

**Anyways, thanks for reading, more will be coming soon.**

**~ Dark**


	19. The Second Seal

"Wait," Samuel said. "Three more? There are more of these?"

Steve didn't take his eyes off the sky, where red clouds swirled around the glowing beacon.

"Yes, there are more. Four in total. One down, that means there are three to go."

Steve shrugged.

"It's not your problem, anyway. I suggest you go back to wherever you came from and live out the rest of your life."

"Which is going to be incredibly short if you _fuck_ this up," Samuel spat, and Steve raised his eyebrow.

"I'm going with you."

"No, you're not."

"You need someone to translate those hieroglyphs, and I'm sure you could use the company," Samuel said.

"Fine, it's your funeral. How did you guys get out here anyway?" Steve asked.

"We left our horses at a village not too far south. Why? Where's the next temple?"

Steve smiled.

"Hope you don't get sea sick."

* * *

The horses sped across the soft ground of the shrubby wasteland, powering towards the coast. Samuel clutched the reigns tight, hoping to Notch that he didn't fall off. Steve laughed, patting his black steed as it pulled ahead of Samuel's mare.

After several hours, they reached a small house sitting on a beach, with a short dock jutting out into the ocean. Tied to it was a small sail boat and an even smaller rowboat.

Steve tied the horses to a fence post nearby, and walked into the house.

"Who is it?" an old voice came from another room. The room Steve was in was furnished with nets and paddles and paintings of boats. An old man walked into the room.

"Who are you?" the old man asked, and Steve shrugged.

"Just a couple of guys looking for a boat," Steve said, and the old man shrugged.

"I don't know why you'd want to be going out onto the ocean right now, but I can loan you a rowboat."

Steve smiled, and Samuel walked in holding a sack full of gold.

"I'm afraid we can't accept that," Steve said, and he took the sack from Samuel, throwing it to the old man.

"Hey!" Samuel shouted in protest, but the old man had already started sifting through the gold.

"You want the sailboat? That's last good boat I have, the rest of them are lost or broken. I'm afraid I can't accept this, lucrative amount of gold, as it seems that it's all your friend has."

Steve summoned his sword into his hand.

"Take the gold, and we'll take the boat."

The old man's eyes widened. He muttered something, and he started to back away.

Steve walked past, and out onto the dock.

"Look. We will return it. We just have to save the world. We'll bring it back in like, a couple of weeks, tops. If we die, then the world has ended so you don't have to worry about a stupid boat anymore. You won't have to worry about the gold, or anything else for that matter." Steve said all of this as he climbed onto the sailboat and started hoisting up the sail. Samuel was forced to untie the rope that held the boat to the dock and climb into the boat after him.

The old man stared.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get your name," Steve said.

"Uh," the old man mumbled. "Jasper."

"Well, thank you Jasper. I'll see you soon."

* * *

The duo were staring at the same ocean they had been staring at for the past two days. But it wasn't the ocean they were looking at.

Far beneath the ocean surface sat an ancient temple, made of a strange material that almost blended in with the blue of the ocean. Squid could be seen just below the surface, milling about, doing absolutely nothing.

Suddenly, a squid exploded into nothing. A beam of some sorts had destroyed the animal.

Steve looked deeper into the water, and saw a disgusting green fish with one eye. And it was staring right back at him.

A beam of energy shot out of the water, and Steve jumped out of the way. It hit his left arm, leaving it numb.

"You got all the ingredients?" Steve asked, and Samuel nodded. He pulled out a glass bottle, and gave it to Steve. He also pulled out a pair of glowing leather boots.

"This took all of my energy to make. You better not die."

Steve gulped the liquid down, and pulled the boots onto his feet. Summoning his sword, he dived into the water.

* * *

Steve realised that the potion's effects made the water much clearer. As squids bumped harmlessly into Steve, he let water fill his lungs. He could breathe.

Diving deeper into the water, Steve found that he could move much easier than he would normally have been able to. He assumed it was the boots. Dodging beams shot by the one eyed fish, Steve swam into the ocean temple.

"Where the hell is this rune?" he muttered, bubbles escaping from his mouth.

Suddenly, a larger and paler version of the fish outside of the temple slammed into him. Spinning around, Steve pushed off of the wall of the temple, and stabbed his sword into the throat of the fish. As it died, he saw the rune.

Dashing through the water, he pressed his finger against the rune. It lit up.

A roar came from behind him. Spinning around, Steve saw an enormous fish covered in orange spines, and a bright blue eye.

"Shit," Steve said, and he bolted.

He reached the wall pretty quickly, and pushed straight up just as the Guardian, as Samuel had told him the creatures guarding the seals were called, reached him. It smashed through the wall, and spun around, smashing another hole in the wall to chase Steve.

Dodging to the side, the Guardian crashed through another wall, and came back through the same hole.

Steve spun around, and stabbed his sword through the eye of the monster.

The Guardian exploded into nothing, leaving behind a blue crystal in its place.

Steve found the beacon, and pressed the crystal against it. The beacon lit up, shooting a blue beam into the sky.

And then the water grew dark.

The potion's effects were wearing off.

* * *

Samuel watched as Steve burst from the water and landed on the boat.

"You okay?" he asked.

Steve laughed.

"Fuck you."

* * *

**So yeah, they're all called Guardians now. Deal with it.**

**Two more seals to go.**

**~ Dark**


	20. More People, More Problems

A hooded figure had been stalking the group for several hours. They were human, as far as Kryptid could tell, but beyond that he had no idea who this person was, or what they wanted. Eventually, he just decided to ask.

"Oi!" he shouted. "I know you're out there. Who are you and what do you want?"

The figure stopped moving. Stepping into the light, Kryptid saw that the hoodie had a creeper face printed on the front. He couldn't see under the hood.

"I just wanted to know what a group this big was doing alive in the middle of this darkness," the voice was male, but there was something off about it.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Anima Proelio," the hooded man said, and Kryptid raised an eyebrow.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Anima asked, and Kryptid shrugged.

"Okay. Do you want to travel with us or not? I assume that's why you didn't run when I asked who you were."

Anima nodded. Or at least, Kryptid thought he did. With the hood up he couldn't really see Anima's head.

"I'm going to assume that was a nod. Hurry up, we have somewhere to be."

* * *

Screams echoed through the darkness.

"Well shit," Kryptid muttered, and he sprinted in the direction of the screams.

They quickly saw a mass of burning bodies, and beyond that a wall of monsters. Kryptid could barely see two people fighting off the monsters, and one appeared to be injured.

"Damn it. We can't fight that many monsters," Kryptid muttered. Rookie smirked, stepping in front of him.

"Good thing you won't be fighting them. You just have to teleport those people out."

Kryptid's eyes widened. Then he smiled.

"I'm surprised you hadn't done this sooner. Especially since Jeffery's death."

Rookie shrugged.

"Well," Kryptid continued. "I'll see you later."

She laughed.

"Yeah. You're not getting rid of me this easily. I will be back. And you better not have screwed over the world while I'm gone."

She looked back at the monsters, some of which had noticed them.

"Go."

* * *

"I'm not leaving you here," Hailey shouted, forcing Daniel to his feet. He winced, sending a small burst of fire into one of the nearby monster's face.

"You probably should," he muttered. "No point you dying as well."

"For Notch's sake!" Hailey screamed. "Get up!"

Suddenly, a man with purple eyes appeared beside them. Hailey let out a scream.

"I'm not going to hurt you," he said, and he grabbed Daniel and Hailey. They appeared outside of the horde of monsters.

"What?" Hailey asked, and the man shrugged.

"I just saved you from certain death. Thank me later."

* * *

Kryptid watched as Rookie ran at the monsters, jumping into the air. She seemed to bulge with white energy, and then she exploded, obliterating the surrounding monsters.

And that's how it was. Rookie was gone. Again.

Realising that seeing someone who appeared to be an old friend suddenly disappear in an explosion shouldn't be normal, he turned to the worried group.

"Calm down. She's not dead. She'll reform in the Nether," he told them, and the girl that he had just saved looked at him strangely.

"Wouldn't that make her a creeper?" she asked, and Kryptid nodded.

"Look at you," he said sarcastically, "putting two and two together. You must be _really_ smart."

The girl had blonde hair and wore a green hoodie with a creeper face printed on the front. She was glaring at him, her green eyes piercing through the darkness. After a few seconds, she looked taken aback.

"I can't, I can't read his mind," she muttered to the boy on the ground beside her, who was clutching his slowly festering wound in his bloody hands.

Kryptid raised an eyebrow.

"Read my mind?" Kryptid asked, almost laughing. "You've got to be kidding me."

"No, no," the boy said. He had black hair, blue eyes, and lightly tanned skin, and wore a grey hoodie and jeans, and these were stained with blood. "She can read minds. Except for… Darkness, related things."

"Darkness? You mean, like the Void?" Kryptid asked.

"If that's what you're calling it, then yes."

"Well, I'm a Void-born Ender, so that would explain it."

"What?" the two said, and Kryptid shrugged.

"Don't worry about it. What are your names?"

"I'm Hailey," the girl said, and she gestured to the boy, who was being bandaged by Kevin. "And this is Daniel."

"Hi Hailey, hi Daniel. We need to get out of here, so I'm going to carry you," Kryptid said, picking Daniel up and hoisting him over his back. Although Daniel tried to argue, Kryptid hissed at him.

"We don't have time for you to argue. Deal with it."

* * *

After several hours of walking, Kryptid ordered everyone to set up camp, and he placed Daniel on the ground. He gestured Hailey, who was talking to Blue, over to them. Hailey and Blue joined them.

"Who are you people?" Daniel asked, and Kryptid shrugged.

"We're the people who are planning on killing the Void," he said. Daniel frowned in confusion.

"You are going to kill this darkness? How?"

"We're not quite sure yet. But we'll figure it out."

Kryptid then turned to Hailey.

"You have the ability to read minds?"

"Yes. And I can move things with my mind, but it requires a large amount of my energy. Daniel is specialised in elemental magic, controlling the basic elements."

"What?" Kryptid asked. "Fire, water, earth and air?"

Daniel nodded.

"Well, keep the water away from me. I'm an Ender, so it'll hurt me. I'll talk to you guys soon," he said, walking over to Anima, who was sitting by the fire with his head in his hands. He looked, different in shape, somehow.

"Anima?" Kryptid asked, and within seconds he was sure he'd just imagined the difference in shape. Anima looked the same.

"Yes?" he asked.

"You looked a bit, weird," Kryptid said, and Anima shrugged.

"Light must be playing tricks on you," he said, and Kryptid nodded in agreement.

"Okay, well, do you happen to have any supplies? We're kinda running low on food, and I'm not sure whether we'll be able to feed everyone for much longer."

Anima frowned. "I have enough for two people for another eight days."

"Okay. If you don't mind sharing, that'd be great. Get some sleep. We'll be leaving in four hours."

* * *

**Getting close to the finale.**

**Aw shit.**

**~ Dark**

**(stuffed up on the names again, damn it, fixed, don't worry, I fixed it, sorry)**


	21. The Third Seal

A wave threw the small boat against the rocks, smashing an enormous hole in the side of it. Samuel swore under his breath, and Steve swore at the top of his voice.

"Jump!" he shouted, and the duo leapt overboard. Another wave threw them to shore, as the ocean battered the boat against the rocky cliffs that jutted out of the water.

"We're screwed."

Steve nodded in agreement. "We'll find a way to pay back the poor guy. Right now, we have a world to save."

"Where's the next seal?" Samuel asked, and Steve shrugged, summoning the map into his hands. Samuel was still a little surprised at the strange abilities Steve possessed, but Samuel had seen just as weird in his time travelling the world.

"Looks like it's in the mountains up here," Steve said. "Other than that, I have no idea where it is."

"Well that's fantastic. Let's go."

* * *

After several hours of searching, Steve spotted something on the peak above them. A small, seemingly destroyed ruin.

"Over there," Steve shouted, and Samuel hurried after him, and they climbed to the peak. The ruins were tiny, and there were no symbols anywhere.

"Oh no," Steve muttered, and he looked around the ruins. "Could these have been destroyed?"

Samuel shook his head. "There's no way it could've been destroyed by looters, or any human for that matter. The seals were built to be indestructible."

"Maybe this isn't it then," Steve said, and he shook his head in dismay.

"Let me see the map," Samuel said, and Steve passed it to him. Studying it, Samuel looked around at the obvious landmarks on the map.

"This is definitely the place. It should be right here-" Samuel was cut off as a trapdoor collapsed beneath his weight, and he fell into darkness.

* * *

Samuel rubbed his head as he climbed to his feet in the middle of a dark room. Looking up, he could see the hole that he had fallen through, and Steve was leaning over it, looking at him.

"You okay?" he shouted, and Samuel nodded. Within a couple of minutes, Steve had thrown down a rope and had joined him in the temple.

Samuel held a torch up against the wall of the temple, and groaned.

"Well shit," he muttered. "It's a maze."

"A maze?" Steve asked, and Samuel pointed at the hieroglyphs that were etched on the wall.

"These markings mean _hidden passageway that twists_ which is fucking Ancient fancy talk for maze."

"And you're saying at the end of the maze is the rune that unleashes the next Guardian?"

"Yes. You need to hurry though," Samuel said, and he pushed down on a button that revealed a dark entrance to the maze.

Steve shivered at the thought of going into the dark tunnels alone, but he did it anyway.

* * *

The maze was, well, a maze. Steve left a trail of redstone, so he knew where he had been. After only a few minutes, Steve found himself at the end of the maze. It was here he saw a strange sight.

A large white egg, in the midst of a flaming piece of netherrack, with the rune he was looking for carved into it.

"Please tell me this isn't what I think it is," Steve muttered, and he placed his hand on the rune.

The egg started to shake, and crack, and glow, and then it exploded into nothingness.

"What the fuck?"

Suddenly, the ground started to shake and cracks appeared all over. Something smashed through the floor and burrowed through the ceiling of the cavern, too fast for Steve to be able to tell what it was. But it was big. And fast. And had wings.

* * *

"Samuel!" Steve screamed, running back into the main room of the temple. Samuel looked over from the wall he was studying, and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah? Did you find the rune? I found the beacon," he said, gesturing to a doorway at the side of the room.

"There's a dragon outside," Steve said, and Samuel gulped. A reptilian scream pierced Steve's ears, and he started climbing up the rope.

He poked his head out the hole in the ruins, and ducked back into the temple as fire sizzled the air above him. Jumping out, Steve laid eyes on a majestic creature, flapping its wings back and forth, keeping it in the air. One glowing black eye sat in the middle of its head, and it opened its mouth, showing its teeth, and roared.

Steve charged at it, jumping up in the air, and the dragon swooped at him. Fire erupted from its throat, and Steve narrowly missed being completely disintegrated. He tumbled to the ground, and the dragon soared into the sky, turning around to face him.

"Come at me!" he shouted, and the dragon swooped.

* * *

Dodging out of the way, Steve grabbed onto the tail of the beast, and was pulled into the sky. Summoning his sword back into his hand, he shoved it into the back of the beast. It screeched, and flew higher into the sky, whipping its tail around, trying to fling Steve off.

Climbing up the dragon's back, Steve gritted his teeth as the dragon spun and dived, trying to throw him off. Steve arched back, and stabbed his sword into the throat of the Guardian.

It spun to the ground, screaming, and Steve fell off of the beast, crashing into the side of the mountain.

"Ow," Steve moaned, and he walked over to the dying creature.

"Sorry buddy," he said, and he stabbed it through the eye. Picking up the fallen crystal, Steve walked back into the ruins and climbed down the rope.

"You okay?" Samuel asked, and Steve laughed.

"Do I look okay?"

He walked into the side room, and placed the crystal on the beacon, activating the third seal.

* * *

**Coming up on the home stretch now. It's going to be awesome.**

**Now, reviews!  
**

**CobaltZephyr: ... Now, I just want to make it clear, creepers, when they kill themselves through explosion, respawn in the Nether. You're correct about the Kryptid trilogy, but in the end I feel like Steve is the main character just a little bit more than Kryptid. And I'm glad you like my story! Also, cool name you've got.**

**~ Dark**


	22. The Truth

Kryptid felt sick to his stomach. He could tell that the Void was nearby but, of course, he couldn't see it.

"Show yourself!" he shouted, and a face materialised in front of him.

The Void's face was completely black, with a mouth outlined by jagged white teeth. Two eyes stared at Kryptid from only a metre in front of him, giving off a strange black light.

"Ender. Hello." The Void's voice was deeper than it usually was, when Kryptid heard it in his head. And raspier.

"You have a body, I'm guessing. Great. It'll be easier to kill you," Kryptid hissed.

"That's no way to talk to your creator," the Void said, grinning at him.

"You are one creepy fuck," Kryptid muttered. "I'm dreaming, aren't I?"

"Yes you are."

"Good. I'm waking up," and with that, Kryptid opened his eyes.

The others were still asleep, and Kryptid stretched, teleporting over to the edge of the fire, where he knew Blue should be on guard.

She was gone.

"Blue?" he asked to the darkness, and he heard laughter. A horrible, sick, feeling welled up from his stomach.

"I'm still asleep. I have to be," he muttered, and the Void chuckled.

"You may be. Even if you are, you're not waking up. I'm having too much fun."

Kryptid scowled into the darkness, and he suddenly saw shapes.

"What?" he asked no one in particular, and out of the darkness stepped three familiar faces.

"Kryptid?" Fido asked, and she looked down at her waist, wear her legs were back where they belong.

"What the Nether is going on," Ginja asked, directing her question towards Kryptid. All he could do was stare in shock. And then Destructo spoke.

"Dude. Am I… dead?"

Kryptid could only stare for a few seconds, then he shook his head.

"Fuck you!" he screamed into the darkness, and his dead friends looked startled. He looked back at them.

"Sorry. The Void is fucking with me. I don't know whether you guys are actually there, or it's just some trick being played by that MONSTER, but yes, you are dead. I think you know that."

The others nodded.

"And believe me, I am so happy to see you right now, but I can't stick around. I have to go save the world. Could you pass me your sword, Destructo?"

Destructo passed it over, and Kryptid realised there were tears in his eyes.

"Dude, don't worry about it. Once I kill the Void, you will be free, and I'm sure Notch will reserve a special place for your soul somewhere. Bye guys."

And with that, Kryptid stabbed himself through the heart.

* * *

Kryptid sat bolt upright, and he let out a small whimper. He was shocked to see a monster standing over Red, about to take a bite out of her face.

"Red!" he shouted, throwing a torch over to her. Red awoke from her slumber, caught the torch, and shoved it into the monster's face.

Immediately, Kryptid assumed the worst. The only reason Blue would've let a monster into the camp was if she were captured – or dead.

Then Kryptid saw someone he didn't recognise. Running over, he realised it was Anima…

But that couldn't be right…

It wasn't Anima just a few seconds ago, he was sure of it.

"Anima, if that really is your real name!" he shouted, storming over the last few metres. Red quickly ran over, know something was going to go down.

"Who are you?" Kryptid shouted. "Are you a spy? Why didn't you look like yourself? WHAT ARE YOU?!"

Anima was staring in shock at him, but Kryptid was having none of it.

"What are you," he said, quieter this time.

"Uh, uh, uh," Anima repeated, his voice seeming softer, lighter, more feminine.

"What are you?" Kryptid said, drawing his sword. Suddenly, Anima began to change. The red hair that was hidden behind his hood grew longer, into black hair, and his eyes changed from a vivid green to a deep, deep brown. Even his clothes changed, his hoodie turning into a tight black T-shirt, and his pants changing to skinny jeans.

"What the Nether?" Kryptid asked, his eyes widening, and Anima shrugged.

"I'm Kardiá, and I've kind of been impersonating my dead boyfriend," the new Anima said, and Kryptid made a face.

"That has got to be the weirdest thing I have ever heard," Kryptid said, and Kardiá smiled sarcastically.

"Well if you have a better way to grieve I'd love to hear it. You just lost your girlfriend and you're screaming at a total stranger."

Kryptid scowled. "What are you?"

"I'm a shapeshifter. Deal with it. Assuming Blue is still alive, aren't we going to go after her?"

Kryptid glared.

"Wake everyone up! The Void took Blue, and we have to hurry to the portal!"

* * *

The portal loomed overhead, and with it came an army of undead monsters and shadowy beings.

"Well shit," Kryptid muttered, and Anima – Kardiá, who was now back in her Anima form, Red and Kryptid having agreed to keep her secret safe, stood next to him.

"How are we going to deal with this?" she, he, whatever, asked.

"Fight."

* * *

The fight was going well. Most of the monsters were dead, but they kept coming. And not out of the portal either, just from the surrounding landscape.

Kryptid didn't want to see what came out of the portal.

The group were almost at the portal, which looked like a black, swirling mess, when something jumped out of the darkness. A creature made of pure shadow, sent a whip of darkness into Zack's chest, and Graham gave out a yell in anguish. Leaping across, his sword stabbed through the shadow, killing it.

"Are you okay?" he asked, as his friend looked at him with sad eyes, and his skeletal warriors all fell to the ground around them.

"Kill that bastard," Zack said, and Graham blinked tears out of his eyes as his best friend died in his arms. Standing up, Graham turned to the others.

Wedge and Kevin looked at eachother.

"We'll stay behind and hold off these monsters, you guys need to go kill the Void. Stop it before anyone else dies," Kevin said, and Daniel and Hailey nodded in agreement.

"We'll help as well."

Graham looked at Kryptid and Red, and Anima looked around at everyone. Kryptid forced a laugh.

"Then let's stop staring at eachother, and kill the Void."

And with that the four of them ran through the portal.

* * *

**With only one more chapter to go, I wanted to know, what do you guys think is going to happen?**

**And I completely forgot to credit the people who came up with the OCs:**

**For Anima/Kardia, that credit goes to SoulErrorArwitch**

**And for Daniel and Hailey, that credit goes to TheFanficCritic1337**

**Thank you both**

**One more thing, I messed up with the naming for Anima, calling him Animo for a bit. I fixed it, sorry, and I hope you will forgive me :P**

**~ Dark**

**P.S. Thanks for the poll answers guys. I'm going to stop it now, so I can maybe start another one, but I just want to thank you, now I know what you guys want. The sequel I was already planning on, and I'm still doing some of the other options (Legends of Minecraftia), but I'm glad you liked the idea for a war. I have an awesome plan, and it's going to do A LOT of lore, but there won't be any of the main characters from this in that (except maybe Herobrine).**

**And that was way to much text.**

**Thank you for reading my stories.**


	23. This is the End

Steve and Samuel climbed over another cliff, and there, across a small river, was an enormous jungle. The trees towered above them, and Samuel looked at them with fear in his eyes.

"What is it?" Steve asked, and Samuel shook his head.

"It's just, I'm kind of terrified of spiders. They're usually in jungles."

If Steve was anyone else, he might've said something sarcastic. But he remembered the last time he was attacked by giant spiders, and he nodded in agreement.

"They are terrifying. We just need to activate this one last seal, and then we'll be finished. Let's go."

* * *

They had been searching the jungle for hours, and Steve was starting to feel exhausted, and he could only assume Samuel was feeling worse.

"You okay back there?" he asked, and Samuel nodded in agreement, even though his face and shirt were drenched in sweat. As if to prove himself, Samuel sped up, pulling ahead of Steve, hacking away at the vines in front of him with his sword. Suddenly, leaves gave way beneath him, and he fell down a massive cliff.

Steve yelled, running to the edge and jumping off, grabbing onto a vine on the way down. As he swung down, he reached for Samuel, grabbing onto his hand just before he hit the ground.

Samuel was still screaming for several seconds, and then Steve dropped him, letting him fall to a heap on the jungle floor. In front of them was a moss-covered temple.

"I found it," Samuel said, panting as he lay sprawled out on the ground. Then he whimpered quietly, and pointed around them.

Surrounding them were enormous spider webs. Bigger than Steve had seen in his entire life.

"Let's activate this seal before we're attacked," Steve said, helping Samuel to his feet. And then they entered the temple.

* * *

Kryptid looked around him, and he frowned at the sight of the once beautiful End swamped in darkness. The others were looking around to, all except for Graham, who had his eyes trained on something in the distance. A black figure slowly floated down to them, and it smiled.

"Hello Ender. Hello the rest of you-"

"You killed my best friend!" Graham shouted, swinging his sword at the Void. Its body dissipated for a second, the sword passing right through, then turned solid again. Graham was sent flying by an unseen force.

"Ender. I have a proposal for you. I will spare that lady friend of yours, and that Steve you're so fond on, and even the Aether. All I ask is that you join me, and let me kill the rest of your friends and the other realms. And you must hand Notch over to me, for me to torture until the end of time."

Kryptid spat at it. The Void stopped smiling, and instead hissed.

"Fine, have it your way." With a click of its shadowy fingers, Blue appeared, apparently unconscious. A shadowy cage surrounded her, and seemed to be absorbing energy from her.

"Leave her alone!" Kryptid shouted, and the Void smiled again.

"Then join me, and hand Notch over."

Kryptid stared at him, and noticed Anima, who had broken off from the group, sneaking over to where Blue's lifeless figure was being held captive. Kryptid turned back to the Void, and scowled.

"Okay," he said, and Red looked shocked. He hoped it was just an act.

"First things first though," Kryptid continued, and the Void's smile once again turned to a frown.

"What do you want Ender? I think my deal as it stands is a great offer."

"I want your guarantee that everyone in the Aether will be spared, and that my friends will be allowed free passage to the Aether. In return, I will give you Notch _and Herobrine_."

The Void seemed to consider this, and Kryptid hold back his celebration as Anima was able to get Blue out of her shadowy prison and wake her up. The Void smiled at Kryptid.

"I will accept your offer, with one minor altercation. I want Steve as well-"

The Void was cut off by Kryptid shoving his sword into its stomach. Its hand rose up into the air, commanding shadows to follow its movement, holding Kryptid into the air by his throat. His sword clattered to the ground, and the Void scowled, its black eyes seemingly flashing red.

"I will destroy you!" it screamed. A sword flashed, cutting it down the middle. The Void's form dissipated, and Kryptid smiled at Graham. Graham nodded, and was about to say something when a scream filled the air, and everyone was launched off of their feet.

* * *

Samuel scanned the temple wall, and finally found the symbol he was looking for. He reached up to press his finger down against it, when something slammed into him from behind. Collapsing under its force, he spun around to see a shapeless black mass, convulsing and moving with energy. It was sliced through by a sword, and Steve nodded at Samuel as is disappeared. Suddenly, another shadow came out of nowhere, tackling Steve to the ground. Another attacked Samuel, and he gritted his teeth under its pressure.

Noticing Steve's fallen sword to his left, he reached for it, and was just able to curl his fingers around its hilt. Swinging, he destroyed the shadowy entity. Walking over to Steve, he killed the Void-thing as it started to strangle Steve. Samuel gave Steve his sword back.

Turning back to the wall, he reached up to the rune again. Activating it, a strange feeling overcame him.

A familiar chattering sound came from outside the temple. But it was much louder than anything he had ever heard before, and Samuel swallowed in fear.

Steve ran outside, and looked up to see an _enormous_ spider towering over him. Its fangs dripped venom, and its single glowing green eye stared at him.

"Well shit," he muttered, raising his sword to fight the beast.

Dodging out of the way of the spider's first lung, Steve hacked at one of its forelegs, to no avail. It hissed at Steve, a deep, terrifying noise that filled him with dread, and jumped at him. Sliding underneath its legs, Steve summoned a bow into his hand and shot several arrows into the spider's underbelly. It screamed in pain, and stumbled away as Steve climbed to his feet. Running at the Guardian, Steve brought his sword up to attack.

The spider spat venom at Steve, and he screamed as it burned into his face. Wiping it off of his face, Steve looked up at the spider. Clicking its fangs, the Guardian leant down to bite into him. Steve closed his eyes, and waited for the inevitable.

That's when Samuel came out of the tree above them, landing on the spider's back. Stabbing his sword into its exoskeleton, the attack did no harm to the Guardian, but it did distract it. As it flung Samuel off, Steve stabbed his sword into its eye.

It took Steve several seconds, as he watched the beast die, to realise that Samuel was injured.

* * *

Kryptid climbed to his feet, and the Void smiled at him from several dozen metres away.

"Why won't you just accept your defeat?" it asked. "Why do you continue to fight, and continue to make your fate worse?"

"Because I actually don't want the world destroyed, surprisingly," Kryptid spat back, and the Void glared.

"I've had enough of your sarcasm, you filthy Ender."

Kryptid smirked. "Well, how about this. We duel to the death. If you win, you get to destroy the world. And if I win, well, you'll be dead."

The Void pondered this, and nodded.

"That seems acceptable," it said, a pitch black sword appearing in its shadowy hand.

"I would just like a few minutes to converse with my friends first," Kryptid said, and the Void, while noticeably annoyed, agreed.

Kryptid turned to the others, and the first thing he saw was Blue's face.

"Don't do it," she said.

"I have to. If I don't, you'll die."

Blue looked like she was about to cry.

"But if you do, you'll _die_."

Kryptid stared at her sadly. They stared at each other for a few seconds, and then Blue rushed forward and pressed her lips against his.

"YES!" Red shouted, doing a little jump into the air. After a while, Blue pulled back.

"Aaaw, cute," the Void said, his voice echoing around them. "Now could you FIGHT ME ALREADY!"

Kryptid stared at Blue.

"Why do I have to do this NOW?" he asked rhetorically, and he turned to face the Void.

"Let's fight."

* * *

A blood splatter was visible where he had collided with the temple wall, and the wound on the back of Samuel's head was, noticeable, to say the least.

"Shit, shit, shit," Steve muttered, rushing over to his friend. Samuel smiled.

"It's okay," he said, his eyes flickering.

"No!" Steve shouted in protest, and Samuel's smile faded.

"Please, just, don't forget me. I mean, I did help save the world after all," he said, and with that the light faded from his eyes.

* * *

Hurling an enderpearl at the Void, it collided with his shadowy form. Kryptid swung his sword, and their blades clashed.

A dark tendril rose behind Kryptid, and darted for his head.

"Kryptid!" Blue shouted, and he ducked, dodging the tendril. He stabbed at the Void, and it scowled at him, and waved its hand at Blue. She was knocked several metres into the air, and Kryptid grew angry, slashing at the Void.

"Kill them, my Voidlings," the Void said, and monsters rose from the ground.

"Voidlings?" Kryptid asked, blocking an attack from it.

"That is what I have named them. They are my children."

Kryptid burst into laughter, ducking underneath another slash.

"You are a dark _sentient_ energy source, and you're calling monsters your children?"

The Void's face flickered for a second, and Kryptid shrugged.

"It doesn't really matter, anyway. I'm just going to kill you now."

The Void laughed, slashing wildly with its black sword.

"You can't kill me! I'm immortal!" it shouted.

* * *

Steve picked up the fallen green crystal, and made his way into the depths of the jungle temple. He finally found the beacon that he was looking for, and placed the crystal on it. A green beam of light shot into the sky, activating the fourth and final seal.

* * *

The Void's eyes widened suddenly, and it was Kryptid's turn to laugh.

"You feel that? I think my friend just managed to activate all of the Seals of Darkness," he said, and the Void glared at him.

"That still won't be enough to kill me, only lock me back up again. A few years from now, maybe ten, maybe one hundred, maybe one thousand, I will come back. And I will kill everything and everyone."

Kryptid scowled, and hurled an enderpearl at the Void, and it laughed again, letting it pass right through him. Turning around, that laugh turned, yet again, into a scowl.

Kryptid was smiling as he stood next to a large glowing endercrystal, and he shoved his hand into it, absorbing the energy into his body. A purple aura surrounded him, and his eyes glowed purple. He smiled, and started swinging his sword wildly at the Void's shadowy form. It sent a wave of darkness into him, and he tumbled to the ground.

"You're dead this time, Ender," the Void said, but Kryptid jumped back onto his feet.

"Nice try, fucker."

The fight continued, and it soon became clear that the Void was losing. Looking over at his friends, he noticed some of the 'Voidlings' starting to fall and die of their own will.

Pushing forward, Kryptid stabbed his glowing sword into the Void's chest. It laughed.

"You still do not have enough power to kill me. Just capture me."

Kryptid scowled, and he tapped into a power that he had hoped he would never have to in his life. His Eye. His body started to glow from within, and the Void's form started to collapse. Its face turned sour, and disappeared, and its voice filled his head.

_Stop! No, stop! I will not be destroyed! Stop or I will kill your friends! Stop!_

Kryptid smiled, but then noticed that the portal to the Overworld was closing.

"Go!" he screamed at his friends, gesturing at the closing portal. Although Blue was reluctant, eventually the entire group left. The Void's voice still echoed in Kryptid's head, but it was getting fainter.

It was then that his body started to burn up, decomposing at a rapid rate. The pain was almost unbearable, but, as he looked around, he saw the destruction the End had been put under, and he kept going.

"This is for all of them!" Kryptid shouted, and his body glowed with a brilliant purple light.

* * *

Steve watched from a tall tree as the darkness that was the Void began to retreat from the borders of the land, and he smiled, even if it was a sad smile. So many people had died protecting the world. They would not be forgotten.

In the Overworld, Blue watched as darkness raced back through the quickly closing portal, until there was no darkness left, and the portal was simply a slit against the sky.

Tears fell from her eyes.

Red gasped, and nudged her, pointing at a shape that darted out of the portal just before it closed. It sped down to the ground, straight for Blue, and collided with her, causing her to slam to the ground.

It was Kryptid's Eye of Ender.

* * *

**And thus, the finale. I have a sequel planned, do not fret, and that will be ready as soon as I have time to start another story. Thank you for the support, and I hope you enjoyed reading the final chapter of this trilogy.**

**~ Dark**


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